


Forced Relations

by PenBledNonSense



Category: He-Man and the Masters of the Universe
Genre: Abuse, Blood and Gore, Explicit Language, Gen, Implied Sexual Content, Sexual Humor, Sexual Tension, Threats of Violence, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2018-04-22
Packaged: 2018-08-11 17:10:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 35,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7900924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PenBledNonSense/pseuds/PenBledNonSense
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by a friends FanArt picture.<br/>Trap-Jaw has suffered a near fatal trauma after an argument with his fellow evil-doers at Snake Mountain, and with Teela the only one near by it's up to her to save his life. In a twist of events and hard lessons, will these two become kindred or even worse enemies? Who will be dragged into it and what will the rest of Eternia think?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Hard Ways

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Cheers](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/225166) by SylvanLore. 
  * Inspired by [Cheers](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/386628) by SylvanLore. 



Reconnaissance again… “Why ’m I always stuck on this stupid shit of a job? Tri-Klops has his Doomseekers; they should be doin’ this, not me…” Trap-Jaw grumbled as he flew over the last out-skirting volcano vents of Mount Barathram. “I should be doin’ somethin’ else, like plunderin’ a village…” He shot out whole heartedly, then narrowing his eyes he gave a low grumble turning to the Sky-Sleds controls. "Uh, oh... shit..." The beacon on the console was now flashing bright red; on. Communication link established, but with who..? "Crap..."

“Bored are you, Trap-Jaw?” The boss’s voice came from the small speakers; Trap-Jaw winced at the pleasantry of Skeletors sing song tone. All too friendly, all too fake. “Well then, off you go. Off to plunder and pillage.” There was a pause for a moment when Trap-Jaw thought there was going to be nothing else, that perhaps maybe… but of course not… “Oh, but Trap-Jaw, don’t forget, do finish your reconnaissance first.” Skeletor laughed manically and there was a flash from the control panel, the Sky-Sled lost power and went into a steep horizontal dive towards the ground. “But, on foot.” The harsh yet emotionless tone echoed over the winds. Those were the last words before the speaker burst into sparks and flames. Trap-Jaw squeezed his eyes shut and pulled up on the handles, trying to steer the powerless sled. How could this be happening?

“Me an’ my big trap!” He shouted, readying for impact. The sled crashed, bounced a few times and then skid towards the beginning of the Mystic Wall ruins, throwing Trap-Jaw from his seat and even closer to the broken stone. He too bounced a few times and then stopped just a few feet from a large boulder accompanied by a handful half its size, his mechanical arm now torn to pieces. “Stupid, fuckin’ Skeletor!” He shouted when he sat up, watching the Sky-Sled burn, the flames dancing on his eyes, mirroring his furry. He had landed with his mechanical arm underneath his back, twisted in a way it wasn’t meant to. His arm sparked and began to smoke, a sure sign that it was broken. Tri-Klops wasn’t going to be happy about this. “Great, now what ‘m I supposed ta do?” He looked around and shakily stood up, mechanical legs whining.

All of a sudden there was a shuffling noise behind the boulder and a half hearted chuckle. “Make enough noise Trap-Jaw?” Teela, the female warrior and the daughter of Duncan: Man-At-Arms, walked around, snake staff being twirled in hand. “That was a pretty nasty spill.” She joked as she tapped her staff into the palm of her other hand, a smug smile etched on her oval shaped face, but her smile faded as Trap-Jaw flinched and grunted in pain, a jolt of visible electricity running from his broken mechanical arm through his torso, making him struggle to stay up. “That looks painful.” She lowered her stance as Trap-Jaw knelt on the ground.

“Yea, well, you’re th’ one whose gunna be hurtin’ real bad in a moment.” He jumped up and lunged at Teela, attempting to swing his arm to smack the warrior, trying to change it out of habit into his claw. His arm detached from the sudden movement and sent another wave of electricity through him, paralyzing his body. His eyes widened and he gasped as he crashed into Teela who wasn’t ready for his stumble. It threw her off guard and cost her as they both went falling to the ground, Trap-Jaw on top pinning Teela down, both now immobile. Her leg was twisted out slightly in a most painful way and it immediately began to go numb and prickle due to cut off blood circulation.

“Hey, get off of me you sick bas-” Teela started to scream before she realized the pain Trap-Jaw was in. Sparks were still visibly coming from the shoulder connection, but no giant electrical waves were pulsating. Then she saw it, there was a piece of his robotic arm stuck into the side of his back, a pipe a good two inches in diameter, wedged in deep by the looks of it. “Whoa, hey, you’re really hurt,” She tried to move, her leg tingling every time she did. “I can’t believe this is happening.” She mumbled pushing at Trap-Jaw. “Can you get up?” Trap-Jaw shook his head with difficulty, eyes flaring with rage, no more mirrored fire, but now one of his own.

He groaned and tried to move clenching his jaw, shifting his weight as much as possible, glaring at Teela whenever she 'tried' to 'help', receiving a glare from her in turn. As it was, she was weak in his opinion and of no use. And he was still pissed off at Skeletor so therefore saw her helping hand as an attempt to continue fighting; but that’s what he wanted honestly, to hit someone. All the same he was able to piece together what it was he did need from her, something she could help with, and it was what the defenders were easily led into. Their oath; to always help others in need. It had worked really well against Stratos, so why not the young defender too? And as a woman, stereotypically, she should have the biggest heart of them all, so it should be easy to get into her head.

Teela on the other hand didn’t see herself as helping him. She just wanted him off so she could call for back-up and take him into custody. There was hardly anything there that symbolized concern for the safety of a guy who just tried to kill her. He could bleed out, one less villain to worry about. Just someone get him off!

“I need,” Trap-Jaw started, and then flinched as he realized what Teela had meant by really hurt. Teela paused in her own fidgeting for a moment to hear his weakening raspy words. Trap-Jaw hadn’t felt the pain in his back before because of the adrenaline, and now a worry was starting to settle into the pit of his stomach. “I need Tri-Klops…” He breathed, forgetting his previous plan for a moment and trying to roll over to the right, the opposite direction of the wound and the now extreme pain. Teela pushed as hard as she could again, Trap-Jaw scrunched his eyes shut and vowed he’d hurt her real good for her damn fidgeting. Why does pain always seem more intense when you finally realize it’s there anyways?

“And Sy-Klone said that upper body strength isn’t necessary…” Teela huffed as she pushed one last time when Trap-Jaw tried to move. The movements were more than very uncomfortable and by this point she just really wanted him off. His position on top of her was not something that was meant for two enemies, let alone a deranged (Elders knows how old) villain and a young teen Defender to be in, and his damn belt was cutting into her stomach.

With one last push he finally rolled over and winced, clenching his iron jaw shut to stifle his cry of pain from the movement and then again when the pipe brushed the ground, letting it come out in a choked whimper instead. “Ok, you need help, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m going to get you help.” Teela said standing up uneasily and reaching for her communicator. Staring at the blood now seeping from Trap-Jaws side she put a hand to her head and felt a sticky patch. She must have hit it when they went down. Her leg, although still tingling with immense measures, like millions of pins were continuously being stabbed into it, was OK enough to stand on. Even though he was a villain, she knew in her heart it was wrong to leave him to die. And that if she had the others come to arrest him, he would not make it back to the prison cells or even the med bay of the Palace. She needed a medic here and now. What was she to do?

“No,” Trap-Jaw grunted, arching his back to keep the pipe from the ground, but hurting himself nonetheless as the pipe inside just tore at his internals. “I need Tri-Klops…” He curled his legs up in pain as he rolled over onto his undamaged side, the side with the missing arm. “He’ll know,” He reached back to the pipe sticking from his body. “…what ta do.” He went to pull it out. Instinct; get the foreign object out.

“Wait!” Teela yelled dropping by his side. “You do that and you’ll bleed out, you idiot!” She hissed. "As it is you're lucky the pipe isn't pouring out anything." She then frowned and shook her head. “I can’t believe I’m helping one of Skeletors goons.” She grabbed his hand and pulled it away from its quarry and held it to the ground for a brief moment before letting go. Trap-Jaws eyes glared at her for a moment for treating him like a child, but then shot to her hands and remained focused on them as she reached for her communicator that she had dropped while restraining him. Her hands were warm, he noticed, even though they were outside where it was cool. “What frequency is he on then?” She asked playing with the buttons; visually not impressed with her prisoner ordering her around. Her father was more than qualified to fix anything broken on Trap-Jaws Cyborg like body. But there was just so much blood, she didn't want to argue. Trap-Jaw remained staring at her hands, mesmerized and in deep thought. “Hey, wake up! You’re dying here!” She snapped.

“Oh, uh… wait, he’s not at Snake Mountain today… uh…” He flinched and reached for the intruding pipe again. Teela grabbed his hand and held his arm down, twisting it, meaning business. “He won’t have a communicator on ‘im today…” Trap-Jaw finished, eyes focusing on Teela’s hands again, the new pain a little more pleasant than the one in his back. “You need ta go get ‘im… he’s…” Trap-Jaw shuddered and his body convulsed. Teela looked to the ground and noticed that there was now a river of blood surrounding the lower rocks and quickly let go of his arm, letting him have his space to shift into a more comfortable position again, but held on again when he stopped. If she needed to treat him like Adam, she would.

“Where is he? I’ll go get him if you’re sure he’s the only one who can help. But I’m positive my father can help you just as much as Tri-Klops-” She didn’t finish her sentence. Trap-Jaw ripped his arm free from her grasp and pushed away, rolling awkwardly to his other side, causing a great amount of pain once more.

“Yea right,” he breathed deep, the breath ragged. He was now kneeling on his hand and knees uneasily, ready to collapse. “Like… I’m goin’ ta go to yer dad… an’ the other Masters for help… just ta get locked up afterwards…” He wheezed and collapsed when he tried to push himself into a sitting position up on his knees. He cussed loudly causing Teela to flinch slightly. It was a sorry sight and it truly did pain her, watching another struggle like that. She does have a heart after all. “Tri-Klops… knows me… inside… an’ out… He’s th’ only… one I… trust…” He tried to sit up again, this time Teela helped, watching the wound closely, knowing well what would happen if it was to rip through his sides. There had been a few incidents like it back at the palace with the guards between malfunctions and other attacks on the Palace by either Skeletor and his men or other unwanted evil-doers.

“You guys have trust among each other?” She joked with a weak smile, trying to lighten the mood as she watched the little blood rivers. Trap-Jaw clenched his jaw again and squeezed his eyes closed as he felt the muscles and tendons in his side tare against the jagged edge of the pipe. Perhaps that Kidney thing that Tri-Klops always warned him about was getting poked too, the one that was apparently going to shut down with all the ‘crap’ he eats and drinks. “Ok then, I’ll go find Tri-Klops.” Teela sighed, giving into the brutes stubbornness. “Where would he be?” She asked looking him in the eyes, her own saying she meant what she said. A heroes promise.

Trust was a big issue when it came to saving lives, and right now Trap-Jaw needed to trust her. She squeezed his shoulder and then walked around to his wounded side as he stared at her in a far off way. “But I still think I should alert my father too, just in case we can’t find Tri-Klops. He would have a med-table at the ready for our arrival."

Trap-Jaw felt his pulse miss a beat; at first out of painful instinct and then the realization of a better sensation. The feeling of the warm hand that had been clenched on his shoulder was more than welcome, a great change from the one usually around his throat. Even Evil-Lyn's hands were ice cold. “I’m going to bandage this up as best I can.” Her voice was distant for a moment, both to his ears and in her voice itself; she was busy, in thought. She tore off some of her outfit around her stomach and pressed the cloth to the wound as gentle as she could to use as a makeshift gauze. Trap-Jaw let his breath exhale with a whimper and he grabbedthe closest thing in each of hers, her foot, giving a small glare in her general direction that stated to get away from there. “Sorry, but we need to stop the bleeding, unless you like being a dead-man-walking." She stood up. "Oh yea, with no chance of survival to add.” She said leaning back down to pry his hand off her foot.

She then walked over and grabbed some lone un-burnt wires that were thrown from the Sky-Sled and tied them around his waist to hold the make-shift gauze in place. His belt was no help so she ran her fingers around trying to decipher how to take it off. Trap-Jaw sat still, quivering every now and then. He didn't really know what to think, which usually wasn't very abnormal, but in this instant, he would have had plenty to say if another were in his place. Heck, even if he were more coherent he'd have tons to harass her with as her hands circled his waist, just like any other woman. But his mouth felt too dry and his head spun too much to even try. Just staying upright was a battle on it's own.

To Teela though it was very awkward to be that close to him, to reach around his waist and care for him like any other of the soldiers back home. To talk to him like an ordinary person in need. What was worse was the race in her chest and the pit of her stomach she felt when he had grabbed her foot. Her head told her he was going to attack, but there was something that said otherwise, something entirely different. She had never been near him this long in any battle they fought so she shook her head and left it to plain discomfort.

“That will need to do for now.” Teela stood up and looked around again, ignoring the belt when she couldn’t figure it out. She gave an exasperated sigh. “OK, just point me in the direction Tri-Klops is in and-” Trap-Jaw grabbed her leg this time, nearly knocking her over from the sudden startle. It was the type of clutch that said ‘Pay close attention to these next words’

“I’m comin’…” He staggered. “I’m not stayin’ here… for someone else or somethin’ else… ta pick off…” He tried to pull himself up. “I’ll be… OK… at… walkin’… once I’m… up…” He said trying again, voice strained. Teela pushed him back down. “Come on!” He barked, lashing out with his only arm. Teela could see that he wouldn’t last much longer, not on his own, but to make that journey, wherever it was…

‘There is no option; he needs to be looked after.’ Her inner voice said. ‘Villain or not, he is dying. It is the right thing to do.’

She sighed lightly, hoping Trap-Jaw didn’t hear. He was on his knees leaning on his one arm, shaking. He was breathing in long heavy takes and staring at the ground like it was the last thing he was going to see. Her heart sunk a little more and she took half a step closer. .

“Fine, let’s get you up, and we’ll start out. How far?” She asked looking around again, making sure there was nothing about to come down on them. 'No one to see this.' She thought. After studying her for a moment, trying to decided weather or not this was a trick Trap-Jaw pointed in the Southern direction of the Dark Hemisphere. Teela noticed his arm muscles were tense from the strain of trying to keep it steady.

“About thirty clicks… that way…” He started; he was taking more breaths as he talked. Teela nodded, almost relieved. It was more than twice that distance to the Palace one way. “Then… we go… underground… a ways…” He smiled a little and wobbled as Teela helped him stand. She had him lean on her for support. “Sorry…” He mumbled softly, not really wanting her to hear. ‘Must be I hit my head so hard I can’t even utter insults anymore…Supposed to call 'er weak or somethin'.’ He grumbled mentally and looked at the girl. ‘Heh, I’m gunna end up crushin’ ‘er if I fall.’ He smirked at the thought and then his mind wandered back to when he did fall on her. He frowned. No, she was tougher than that, it had already been proven. He grumbled again as a twitch started on his right eye brow. He knew he hit that, there had been a rock sticking out when he fell on Teela. His head hit it and now it was trickling something slightly. ‘Great, I’m gunna bleed out in twenty different places!’ He gripped Teela even harder, leaning a little more than necessary in self pity.

Teela looked over at the broken Sky-Sled and sighed as she felt her upper arm fall under pressure from all sides. She ignored it thinking Trap-Jaw was just in pain again. “On foot then, huh, or do you guys hide anything around here?” She asked hopefully as they started their slow walk, the sound of Trap-Jaws legs whirring and whining in protest with each trudge he took. They had been damaged too, but not as bad. It was his upper half he landed and skid across the ground on.

“No,” He thought for a moment. “There are doors all over... the place, the vehicles are... a good idea actually… for future use…” He grunted and then grinned, gritting his teeth through the obvious pain as they descended a slight slop. His eyes drooped slightly then opened again, a new rush of sorts beginning to mess with his mind. He smiled down at Teela as she glanced up at him cautiously. It was becoming easier to feign pleasantry the longer he bleed out. Things were beginning to spin a little.

Teela smiled ignorantly at his ability to switch so easily from foe to friend. ‘But then again,’ she thought, ‘He is dying and needs my help...’ There had become a buzz about him that unnerved her a little as they traveled, the way he kept looking down at her. It wavered from friendly to fiend to friendly to something else she couldn’t pin point, but it unsettled her stomach, each state he took. She started to feel uncomfortable; him being hung over her like that. This was not a mission she should be doing alone. ‘Oh, how I wish He-Man was here…’ She let her mind wander on what would happen if he was there with them. Things would most likely go a lot smoother. He-Man would make Trap-Jaw do what they wanted, or pick the over sized brute up and carry him to wherever in no time.

Walking past a group of boulders Trap-Jaw tripped when his right leg refused to move, pulling Teela down with him. Trap-Jaw all but laughed out loud as he heard Teela stifle a scream. On purpose or accident it was a good thing, because just above a Gryphon flew by carrying Beast-Man and a large crate which had something lashing out of what was most likely breathing slots. The shadows concealed them from the Gryphons powerful vision as it swept its eyes over the terrain, searching for signs of trespassers. “Ok… just up there… is a door… then a room a little ways in. It’s got some other Sky-Sleds…” He looked around carefully. “I hope they’re in…workin’ condition. Be careful…” He said pressing a button under a medium sized stone he lifted, after reassuring himself there was no one else around. “It should help us… go faster.” He groaned as he tossed the stone away and pushed himself into darker shadows. Teela walked close to him in case he needed help. “Skeletor’s… probably got a… bunch of others… wanderin’ ‘round in there.” He huffed with a cough. “I’m not… in friendly favours… with them… at the moment…” He admitted with a half shrug as his body tried to convulse again, remembering the fight the group of them had.

It was in terms a raciest fight, one that had pushed the group’s tolerance towards each other to a breaking point. In other terms they became pissed at one another, scuffed and then later ended up pissing off Skeletor and were therefore punished by the Great Tyrant himself.

Trap-Jaw’s punishment at first didn’t seem too bad, all he had to do was reconnaissance and try and get Beast Man to either bath himself properly or help him bath his pets, secretly soaping the giant fuzz ball in the process so he had to rinse. Both bathing tasks were near impossible. It all didn’t seem too harsh for once, until he got a pipe stuck in his back. ‘Once again Skeletor’s tryin’ ta kill me,’ He thought, pushing memories of the past to the back and focusing on the present. To him, anything that happens in the past are just to be built on, and used later to fuel whatever it is that he had planned. The plan itself was still in the process of thought, of course.

Teela looked down the now revealed corridor then glanced back at Trap-Jaw. She didn’t trust him, but he didn’t look like he could go anywhere on his own, seeing as it took him what seemed like forever to shimmy himself into a better hiding spot. He had somehow managed to pull himself a little more forwards now so he could peer down the tunnel as well, but his breathing was un-rhythmic, and he was shaking from the effort to keep his head up the way it was. ‘I should have helped him move.’ She scorned herself as she watched him lay there. ‘All that movement has started his blood pumping, which just means more blood loss. More blood rivers...’ She sighed with a shiver.

“So the guys in here won’t care if I’m helping you then, huh?” She asked looking at Trap-Jaw lying on the ground, sweat dripping down his face now from the strain to stay alert. In the dim lighting she could still see that his eyes were falling in and out of focus. He shook his head and let it rest on the ground for a moment and she sighed. “The things we “Good Guys” do.” She joked, flashing a weak smile when he looked up at her, before running into one of Snake Mountain’s labyrinth like sections. Trap-Jaw frowned for a moment as she ran off but then caught that she was only trying to be light hearted. He chuckled, but the chuckle turned into a vicious cough. He stifled the noise as much as possible, so as not to draw attention to his location and the young female trying to help him, but it was hard as he felt a weight clamp down on his chest. His cough turned to a choke and he began to hope someone, anyone, would come by as he was now making little to no noise even when he tried. Teela was out of sight now.

Down the corridors and through the first open door she could find, Teela slid through the shadows and past the half asleep or brawling guards. Trap-Jaw was right; the others seemed more ticked off than usual, even she could see that, and she didn’t live there. Her eyes scanned the area. Two-Bad was off in a corner farther down the corridor pounding on someone. After careful listening and then a lucky move from Two-Bad she was able to see that it was Stinkor. “Poor guy…” She breathed as he cried out accompanied with the sound of a snap, and then she pressed on reminding herself there was someone in worse shape outside waiting for her. The barbaric happenings inside Snake Mountain with its crew were nothing to fret over now, if ever.

The Sky-Sleds were pushed up against the farthest wall of an overlarge chamber room, half covered by a tattered tarp. In an instant Teela had one ready to go, started and straddled. She looked around again in a quick attempt to find some sort of emergency kit and noticed a Doomseeker watching her from behind another sled. “Hey!” She shouted in a whispered tone. “Go find Tri-Klops. Trap-Jaw needs his help, now!” The Doomseeker paused a moment, almost in consideration, and then took off in the opposite direction that Teela thought it would go. “Weird… but it probably knows a faster way to get there itself.” She said to the side, revving the engine slightly while pondering the small devices actions once more and then taking off.

Luck was on her side as she exited Snake Mountain; there were no guards in the corridor this time. Sticking to the shadows would have been much harder with the Sky-Sled. They must have noticed Two-Bad and Stinkor and either went to report to Skeletor or had them take it somewhere else, perhaps a more private place to watch. Teela shuddered at how ruthless the low lives of Snake Mountain could be, but it was Skeletors domain, what else was to be expected?

When Teela got back outside it was darker, the stars were just beginning to peek through the purple sky. She pulled up beside Trap-Jaws head and cut the engine, then looked at him closely. When there was no smart ass remark about time being an issue she noticed he wasn’t moving. “Hey, Trap-Jaw, you’re ride’s here.” She said getting off, hoping for a stir of some sorts. ‘But nothing like a blaster,’ She thought. It was entirely possible that Two-Bad and the others had come out this way and noticed their beaten up comrade lying on the ground in a pool of his own blood, and then quickly devised a plan to lure her out and capture her when her guard was down. But there was nothing, no movement anywhere except off in the far distance. Probably Beast Man again.

She knelt and pressed her index and middle fingers to Trap-Jaws neck looking for a pulse since he showed no sign of movement to her vocal jabs and insults, it was barley there. “Oh, come on!” she exclaimed running to his back and trying to pull him upwards, a small panic setting in as she realized how big he really was compared to her, now that she was alone not just to fight him but to take care of him. “Trap-Jaw, get up! I can’t,” She stopped and took a deep breath, setting the unconscious bad guy down again. Letting herself start to panic wasn’t going to get anything accomplished. Even though it was a horrible thing, no matter who it was, to have someone die in anothers care. To have been the last with them.

Her eyes wandered around examining her surroundings for anything useful. Something her father had taught her to do. “Use your surroundings to their full potential to give you an advantage.” He had said. But there really wasn’t anything that was of any use here, except the sled. The trick to that was getting him on it though.  
Teela brought the Sky-Sled over as close as she could to the unconscious mans side and set to work at getting the near truly dead weight, that was more than twice her size and way more than five times her weight, off the ground onto their new mode of transportation. “Wake up!” She shouted one last time, hitting him on the back of his left shoulder, ignoring the possibility of someone else hearing them now. Trap-Jaw stirred slightly. She hit him again and then took hold and shook. “Wake up!” She hissed this time.

“What…” He began but Teela silenced him.

“I just need you awake for a little bit here, it can’t be that hard. And then you can rest until we get to Tri-Klops.” She whispered. “I can’t lift you onto the Sky-Sled.” Her hands moved under his arm again and pulled up. “You’re too damn heavy.” She said letting him back down the few inches she had lifted him. Trap-Jaw smiled weakly as he felt her trying to move him around.

“It’s all th’… armor…” He joked, coughing and quickly whipping at his face. “I’d…” Teela shushed him again by placing her hand over his mouth, but quickly removed it, a small fear that he would bite her hand off was tugging at her insides. Then she commanded him to get onto the sled. She looked at her hand and frowned deeply. He was starting to cough up blood. The more time spent like this the more she was thinking of just calling in her father and the other Defenders for help. Too much time was slipping by.

Trap-Jaw let Teela help him stand, shakily and looked at his belt. "This ol' thing... by itself... must weigh... Thirty pounds." He choked on a weak chuckle and tugged at the belt. "Might as well... take it off... Be too much... weight already... for the Sled." He pushed off Teela, nearly sending her tumbling to the ground, and with empty eyes unfastened all three hidden latches. The heavy Steel belt fell to the ground with a dull thud and rolled slightly down the small hill. He looked to his robotic arm attachment joint but thought better of it. Tri-Klops would kill him if he lost the whole thing. "'Alright," he said softly. "Lets go." He said glancing once more at his belt. Teela glared at him as she regained her composure and grabbed hold of him once more.

Once they were settled and Teela was sure Trap-Jaw wasn’t going to fall off she kicked the Sled into high gear and took off like a Serpinataur being perused by a Mother Dragon across the Dark Hemisphere skies, keeping low enough as to not draw any unwanted attention. Any more delays could mean the death of Trap-Jaw, and that was something the young warrior did not want on her conscience for the rest of her life, even if he is a criminal. It was still a life. His blood was now literally on her hands.


	2. Stubborn Traits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a friends FanArt picture.   
> Trap-Jaw has suffered a near fatal trauma after an argument with his fellow evil-doers at Snake Mountain, and with Teela the only one near by it's up to her to save his life. In a twist of events and hard lessons, will these two become kindred or even worse enemies? Who will be dragged into it and what will the rest of Eternia think?

Every so often Teela would slow down, slightly coming closer to the ground and look back at Trap-Jaw to check that he was still breathing, and when she couldn’t see any signs of consciousness she would pull over quickly and check. Trap-Jaw would stir momentarily when her warm hand touched his neck, in a way he was trying to show he would rather her not touch him, after all, too many other hands had been around his neck before, but after the third time of feeling the oddly warm fingers on his neck checking for a pulse he just ignored it and let her do her thing. It was hard enough to stay awake let alone fight with the young warrior about personal space. With the cool air so inviting since his body had been working overtime to keep active, he found himself even more prone to dozing off. Everything was spinning, and keeping his eyes open made him sick as the world flew past, and as he knew it, all fluids were vital to his survival. So he would just nod once to reassure her so she would remove her hand. 

But as if dozing off was even possible to begin with on the Sky-Sled Teela had picked. There were bigger ones on another level of the same room; she just needed to look for them. Way more leg room. ‘I’ll have to bug ‘er ‘bout that later… tell 'er she ain't as smart as she thinks.’ Trap-Jaw thought as he felt her waist shift against his inner thighs and he woke from his daze. Being wedged so close to the young woman high in the sky at such speeds, he didn’t want to lose consciousness and fall off. ‘That would be the end for sure. For me an' her.’ He thought as her hair whipped him in the face. 

But in the back of his mind there was another struggle taking place, the real reason he would jolt awake every time she touched him. Skeletors hands would always be oddly warm whenever he would get angry and try to strangle someone, and it usually happened a few times a day, more so or not to Trap-Jaw. It depended on who was standing by. Still colder than Teela's, but warm like he was building a bonfire to throw his captured into. He knew what it looked like and how it felt. That’s how Skeletor would control them, overpowering them, showing them Death and then letting them return to the living, just before dropping them to the side out of boredom or before he finally quenched his rage. So the similarities bothered the giant cyborg greatly, but he didn’t show it. ‘I better not be showin’ it.’ He thought when he started to drift again, one eye faster than the other. 

He had begun to realize there were changes in his behavior as he was bleeding out. His fears were surfacing and he was less aggressive towards the young warrior woman. He looked at her more than necessary and began to forget about being bothered by her long hair whipping him in the face. It smelt good. She washed it regularly, unlike those at Snake Mountain; Beast Man as a prime example. Evil-Lyn kept herself under good hygiene though. Trap-Jaw thought for a moment. ‘Must be a woman thing.’ He let his mind wander again into neutral thoughts. 'Gotta read up on 'em... learn what makes 'em tick.' He sighed uneasily. 'Gotta learn to read proper first.' His eyes closed in deeper thought. 'Tri-Klops'll teach me.' His eyes closed hard then he shot his head up as her hair flicked across his face a little more agressivly, like it had a mind of it's own. It stung somewhat.

Teela on the other hand was just as pushy and aggressive as when they started. Not allowing herself to become lulled into a false sense of security just because her passenger was in critical condition. Trap-Jaw smiled. It was funny, admirable almost. It reminded him of Tri-Klops in ways. He let his mind wander about that and other subjects close to it, comparing Teela and Tri-Klops’ attitudes and traits. His head seemed to spin for a moment, making him slightly more nauseous. Something tasted funny. She'd kill him, so best to hold it down. 

Teela had told him to maintain focus on something that he liked, to occupy his thoughts so they were diverted from the pain and the “letting go feeling” that he was apparently “displaying”. ‘Nothin’ ‘bout me has changed other than that I seem more depressed 's all.’ He thought still thinking about his actions as a criminal. ‘Well, at least I don’t look like a sissy, all cut up like this.’ He chuckled as best he could while thinking about it. ‘But she’s getting annoying.’ Trap-Jaw went to yawn but let it go with a shudder, getting Teela to eye him suspiciously. His criminal instinct was coming back into focus, making him want to push her off and take himself the rest of the way to Tri-Klops, but then he shuddered again and his eyes drooped once more. He looked at her as she looked back. She was taking care of him, how could he do that right now? ‘’Side’s, we’d most likely crash in the struggle.’ He countered against himself, relaxing.

She kept repeating herself every so often when she would turn back, that was what was annoying him. “Just focus on something you would miss. Anything that will keep you from falling asleep is good enough.” 

Her father had explained that if someone who was in danger of dying fell asleep they might not wake up again. They would most likely become coma induced and eventually all life would fade. And those were the lucky people, some died right away without a chance of life to flicker through their stasis brains, others stayed in the coma until they died of old age. 

Teela had seen the thought pass over Trap-Jaw’s face in his expression, whether he knew it or not, when she had woken him up after retrieving the Sky-Sled. He wanted to let something like that happen, to get away from the suffering. It pained her for some reason, one she didn’t care to admit. 

'He's evil, he chose that life.'

He was a hardened criminal of the Universe and its neighbouring Planets, and a threat to Eternia; one of Skeletors finest. But she couldn’t bear to see him suffer alone or give him up to the hands of the other men of Snake Mountain, like Two-Bad, not after what she saw him do to Stinkor. ‘No person of my statues should be able to just stand by and watch someone suffer like this, right?’ She argued to herself as her eyes scanned the area around them, looking for a sign that they were close, all the while keeping an eye out for hostiles. They had just about reached the thirty Click mark.

“Does any of this look familiar?” She asked, slowing down again so Trap-Jaw could hear her over the winds whipping past them without her shouting too much. Trap-Jaw looked around slowly after a moment of hesitation while he processed her question, his eyes were drooped, face a pale green almost white from blood loss, along with the rest of his skin. The make-shift gauze had stopped working now and probably slipped off shortly after take off. Those wires weren’t likely to hold up long anyways and the cloth from her shirt wasn’t the best material to hold any portion of blood back. It probably soaked through and then the whole thing just slipped off while he was waiting for her to get the Sky-Sled. She should have checked that. 'Stupid!'

“Mmmn…there…” He pointed weakly, arm slowly rising then locking in place. Teela reached back and lowered his arm when he didn’t do it himself as they came closer to the cave. He was losing the ability to send simple motor function signals from his brain to the rest of his body. And by the feel of how stiff his arm was he was beginning to let himself go with the blood flow. “Tri-Klops… will be… down… there…” His eyes drooped closed uneasily and stayed shut. There was a long silence between Teela acknowledging where the entrance was to turn in its direction and when she thought would be the point he would tell her more instructions. She looked back and saw him slumped down more than before, legs relaxed instead of clinging to the Sky-Sled like they had been the whole way there. 

“Hey, Trap-Jaw, wake up!” Teela yelled, but with no response. She was beginning to panic, every moment she spent worrying was another moment he could die, and yet if she didn’t check, to try and do something he could die faster. So she began to speed up and went soaring down the caves opening in the ground. She wouldn’t be much help at this point in keeping him alive; her best hope was to get him to Tri-Klops as fast as possible. She focused on what Trap-Jaw had told her before. 'OK Teela, just keep going down' he had said. She looked at the smaller openings in the sides of the tunnel they were descending down. There were pathways to get to each of them. ‘Tri-Klops will find ya, just make some noise an’ he’ll come to investigate for intruders…’ Trap-Jaw said before they had come close to the entrance. 

Teela turned on the weapons system and rounded a corner, grabbing hold of Trap-Jaw as he began to slide off. She nearly lost control and decided to slow it down a bit. Turning sharply in the opposite direction to correct Trap-Jaws position. There was no point in putting her life in danger as well; no good would come out of it. She kept following the biggest tunnel, the one that lead right in from the surface. Eventually she started to presume they were getting close. There were a few statues carved into the stone walls, nothing she could make out to be human as she glided past. Some where in the walls, others where made from boulders lying around. 

She fired the lasers from the Sky-Sled as she zoomed down the tunnels, hitting some of the statues and knocking parts off of them. “Tri-Klops!” She yelled, looking frantically from side to side, almost missing the Swords Master who stood on top of a funny shaped boulder, bigger than the rest. He watched as the warrior woman slammed on the breaks, sending the Sky-sled into a partial out of control spiral. Teelas heart was racing as she fish-tailed the Sled to a stop, Trap-Jaw falling off with no hope of catching him. Then she was off and running towards Tri-Klops in an instant. 

Tri-Klops drew his sword and his eye-sensor spun from his blue to red optic viewer, firing up and ready to blast. “Tri-Klops, Trap-Jaw needs your help!” She yelled, stopping when she noticed that Tri-Klops wasn’t ready for pleasantries, she placed her hand over her staff, readying herself for a battle but not wanting to start it. His red optic simmered slightly. He looked at the blood on her being. 

“What are you talking about?” Tri-Klops barked and looked over towards the Sky-Sled where Teela was pointing, one hand still placed over where her staff was clipped. Trap-Jaw lay unconscious on the ground just behind the Sled. “What happened?” He asked, confused but no less distrusting, maintaining his cool nonetheless. His optics turned and narrowed in on Trap-Jaws near lifeless body, studying it. “What did you do?” Teela shook her head in annoyance and stepped aside for Tri-Klops to come down.

“He’s dying! Get down here and help him!” She yelled up at the swordsman who stood motionless on top of the boulder still. He looked down at her slightly, optic now narrowing in on her. He was looking for visual signs in her facial features of falsehood. “He wouldn’t let me take him anywhere else. I’ll tell you about it after you help him. He insisted on you!” She hissed, watching Tri-Klops stand uncertain now. “If this was a trap we would have sprung it by now! And we wouldn’t be using Trap-Jaws life as bait!” She cried in rage now getting angry at the time wasted. Her father would have had Trap-Jaw on a med-table and in the midst of repairs by now. His life would no longer be in danger and she wouldn’t be yelling at a man who obviously didn't care. 

Tri-Klops jumped down from the boulder still studying Teela, optic never leaving her figure. She could see now that it was a statue still under construction. Tri-Klops thought for another moment. She was right; the Defenders would not use another living persons life as bait like this. His attention turned to the wounded and he ran over to the cyborg to examine the damage, facial expression never changing, not once looking up and over to Teela.

“I’ll be back for you once I get him stabilized.” Tri-Klops said pulling Trap-Jaw to the Sled then jumping on himself, firing it up. “So in other words, you best be gone.” He took off without anymore to the topic, leaving Teela behind in a swirling cloud of dust. She watched dumbfounded for a moment before realizing what had just happened. Tri-Klops had just left her in an unknown, underground part of the Dark Hemisphere, alone!

“What an Ass-Hole! … How could he just… where on Eternia does he get-” Teela started fuming with clenched fists, eyes blazing with fury. Then she took another quick look around, realizing once more the danger she could be in. “Oh! Never trust one of Skeletors cronies!” She grumbled, running towards the work in progress statue for shelter, pulling her staff out just in case. It could be hours before Trap-Jaw’s life is stabilized, and there was still the fact that Tri-Klops might not even come back. “If I ever see that no good jerk again, I’ll beat him so bad he’ll be in even worse shape than Trap-Jaw!” She cursed, and then looked around again listening to the dead silence of the caverns. “And I’ll leave him there.” She pressed herself against the wall and slid down; calming herself as she realized there was no in-ordinary sounds. Just the wind through the tunnels. 

'There must be more than one way in and out of here if the wind is moving like this.' She thought. Maybe there was a faster, easier way out. One she could trek on foot. Yet again, with just a staff in hand, there was no hope against whatever could be lurking in the shadows. Including Tri-Klops. He had proven that once before. Nearly ending her life if not for the Sorceress. What if he was actually meaning that threat, "You best be gone." If he meant to finish what he started? Obviously he didn't care too much for another life. It took him forever to even go up to Trap-Jaws body laying in the dirt. How grateful would he actually be, if at all?

Teela huffed and pressed a fist to her forehead. There was a chance, either way, but if she was to survive, the lesser of the two beasts was going to be her best option. At least Tri-Klops could think rationally. Not like a Shadow Beast or even Webstor's offspring. So she remained put.

Within an hour to an hour and a half Tri-Klops was back, driving towards her much slower than when he left. Teela was still fuming, but not as much as she had been after she took the time to realize Tri-Klops had set defense parameters against unwanted animal activity, so there was nothing to worry about when it came to some strange creatures wandering in to attack her while she sat helplessly. “What’s the big idea just leaving me here?” She shouted as he unmounted from the Sled and drew his sword, extending one hand outwards in a half-hearted attempt at a friendly gesture. He seemed more unsure than before as he reached towards the female warrior.

“Calm down,” Tri-Klops snapped taking a hold of his senses again, pulling his hand away and stepping backwards as Teela helped herself up off the ground and marched forwards, staff drawn. “There’s a weight limit on the Sky-Sled." He snapped, now standing his ground. "It was already maxed out with just the two of you on your way here. And there wasn’t any room for you even if it would take off with all three of us!” He barked. "Unless of course you wanted to sit on one of our laps?"

For a moment the two glared at each other, waiting for the next move, Teela seething visually at Tri-Klops' comment. Tri-Klops broke the contact when he looked down, checking a remote screen he had attached to his gauntlet as it beeped. He held up his hand, silencing Teela when she went to enquire. “I have to get back. I can’t leave Trap-Jaw alone for too long. That pipe did more damage than it looked." He pressed a few buttons then looked up again. "Are you coming, or not?” He asked as he turned around, placing great emphasis on the “or not’ part of his question. Again without a glance back Tri-Klops moved away towards the Sled. Obviously he didn’t want Teela, a Master, to come with him and find his hiding hole. 

But she had brought Trap-Jaw to Tri-Klops as requested, and Trap-Jaw had apparently asked in his groggy state, once he had gained enough consciousness to realize where he was before passing out again, for her to stay a while. After Tri-Klops had woken him again to let him know he wasn’t in any immediate critical danger anymore Trap-Jaw let him know where he stood on just leaving the young woman alone in the tunnels of the Dark Hemisphere. He had chocked on a laugh and said he had a piece of his mind to give her for letting him drop off the Sled. He was conscious enough at that point to feel it. 

Teela wrinkled her nose as she got on the Sky-Sled with Tri-Klops, wrapping her arms around him uneasily. Being no where else to hold onto meant he was her only safety net otherwise this would not be happening. Tri-Klops smiled as he could feel her uneasiness, it practically radiated off her, he could feel her muscles retract and her skin crawling to get away from him. He was a turn off; good. “You could always walk.” He said as Teela struggled with herself to decide how hard to hold on. She grumbled and went to object, tightening her grip a little more. “Because you will need to hold on tight, we need to go fast, so make up your mind now, or get off.” He said revving the engine and then without warning or even waiting for an answer took off down a tunnel.

Teela screamed and Tri-Klops grinned wide as her grasp tightened greatly, arms and legs both gripping onto him. She looked on around the Swordsman in terror after a sharp turn. It was bluntly apparent he was fine with her falling off if she didn’t want to ride with him properly. Safety was an issue and they both new that if she wasn't going to hold on properly she would fall, so Teela regrettingly held on even tighter as she shimmied herself closer. 

Tri-Klops’ smile lessened as he felt her small arms shift to a more comfortable and secure position and clamp down on him. ‘I won’t be losing her this way.’ He thought gloomily as they rounded another corner, their knees being brought inches from the ground beneath as the Sled tipped sideways in the turn. The thought of the youngling falling off and smashing her skull to peices gave him pleasure just as it displeased him when she gripped even tighter yet again, bringing her knees in close to hug his. 

Teela thought by now her grip on Tri-Klops couldn't get any tighter as they soared at speeds she never even know the Sled could go. Every time Tri-Klops would take a dive down another shaft further into the planet or a sharp turn Teela would grit her teeth and stifle a squeal, her stomach feeling like it was going to burst out of her chest, making it hard for her to keep quiet. That made Tri-Klops smile wickedly; his hearing was near perfect, near inhuman so he could make out every whimper she made as the air in the tunnels whistled by. Therefore after a while of almost calm he would do a few more swerves and quick dives just to stir her up again. This was the most fun he had honestly had in a very long time, to long to even remember. 

Teela wasn’t thinking at first that the goon she was holding onto was doing it on purpose because most of the time her eyes were closed. For all she knew the tunnel system was that elaborate and complex, that is until he started to slow down and she was able to open her eyes without them watering at which she was able to watch him closely. She could now see how he would jerk the handles in one direction then back, without any obstacles in the way. ‘Twisted bastard…’ She thought as they began to slow more and their pace became steady. Tri-Klops seemed to have become bored with his actions as they ceased all together, rounding a corner without dipping the Sled to its side.

Eventually they reached their destination, which wasn't too long after they had started, perhaps not even ten minutes from take off. It just felt like they were flying forever since Tri-Klops decided to swerve every chance he got to frighten her, and he possibly had taken a roundabout route just to get in some more dips and jumps. In Teelas mind, anytime she would ever have to unwillingly touch one of Skeletors cronies would feel like a damned eternity. 

“What is this place?” Teela asked getting off quickly before Tri-Klops tried something else, her legs trembled slightly from the speeds they were going and her stomach threatening to empty. Her arms were even refusing to do as she commanded. “Some sort of base for Skeletor?” She narrowed her eyes in concentrated thought looking around and studying the new area. This would be perfect for the other Defenders to learn about. And it would be really bad if she spewed in front of the enemy. 'Hold it together Teela.'

“No.” Tri-Klops answered plainly, getting off the machine after powering it down and checking its gauges. He walked over to a doorway cut into the tunnel wall and motioned for her to follow. The room they walked into was quite big and in the centre is where Trap-Jaw lay motionless on an operating table. 

Tri-Klops walked over and sat on a stool on the side the wound was. In a quick realization Teela looked around once more before looking at Tri-Klops. He had driven them right into the centre of his own lair. “Skeletor doesn’t know about this place.” Tri-Klops paused for a moment before adding with a lower tone, “Hopefully...” He bent over Trap-Jaw whose eyes were open slightly into slits. He set to work repairing Trap-Jaws side more, injecting what would appear to be a freezing agent in the dying mans side. 

“What happened?” He asked gruffly as Teela looked around in almost wonder. She walked over and watched as Tri-Klops began to operate to re-stabilize Trap-Jaws life. She had thought he was only an inventor, second in Eternia to her father. Not that he was also versed on medical needs and surgery. “Well?” He snapped, cutting the remaining threads from the temporary stitching he had done when going to get Teela. She began to explain what she had seen; noticing after a while that Trap-Jaws eyes were fixed on her. Tri-Klops continued to operate on the damaged organs and tissue around the impalement site. There seemed to be a lot of shrapnel from the explosion.

"To my knowledge, there was a dispute back at the mountain. Someone might have sabotaged his Sled. I have no real idea what happened, just that he crashed and wouldn’t let me call for help that was closer by…” She frowned as she finished her story. “One of the other Masters could have been there in no time with medical equipment, but he refused.” She narrowed her eyes in anger at Trap-Jaws stubbornness and looked over to glare at him. “It’s stupid to risk your life just because you don’t like someone. Before we even got near the entrance to this place my father would have had him on a table in the med-bay and under surgery.” She said. 

Trap-Jaw looked from Tri-Klops to Teela and smiled weakly. He was in a daze, colours were a little off and the images would come in and out of focus due to the anaesthetics and the voices of the two sounded strange. His mood was just light though; he was high off Death if you would.

"Skeletor..." Trap-Jaw sighed heavily. Almost unable to take a breath back in. There were needles in his arm pumping blood back into his body. Three for blood, one for something else along with a device attached to his chest.

“Trap-Jaw, go to sleep now, I’m almost finished here." Tri-Klops commanded a little less angrily. "There’s no risk anymore of a coma, and perhaps not of death. We’ll talk later about this.” Tri-Klops pulled his surgical tools away from the cyborg. His sentences were almost point form now. His attention and conversational aim turned from Trap-Jaw to Teela. “Would you trust us, to let you go after we helped?” Tri-Klops asked setting the tools in a bin and starting to stitch Trap-Jaws side properly this time. “If you were in the same condition? Of course you wouldn’t.” He stated gruffly, optic whining as it enhanced the area he was working on. "You would have begged for your father and the other Masters." 

“Yes. I would have no choice really. If it meant I had a chance to get out later instead of die at that moment.” She argued. Teela stood beside Tri-Klops and held part of Trap-Jaws spare arm parts, examining it before putting it back on the tray that it had been lying on. “It’s stupid if you can’t even go to each other for help just because you had a fight.” She pressed, her Masters ideology continuing. “You shouldn't let a fight stop you from being able to go to one another for help. The Masters never act that way. We help all who need it, in case you can’t see that.” She frowned, sighing in frustration as she realized Tri-Klops was either not listening to her or just didn’t care about her heroics logic. 

It was true that there were times when there wasn’t much trust among the other Defenders. Ram-Man and Buzz-Off were prime examples of that, but in the end they went to each other when they needed help, learning that it was better to trust your allies, especially when you need help, than to face things on your own. 

Tri-Klops continued working by reaching past Teela and taking the parts off the tray to start on Trap-Jaws missing robotic arm. “He came to me.” He said, but Teela shook her head.

“Yea but only you, there was all of Snake Mountain to go to, yet he comes all the way out here.” Teela began to raise her voice in frustration. “Instead of getting help right away he would have let himself die. He was going to walk the whole way too if he hadn’t collapsed near that secret doorway coughing up blood. What’s with that?” She pulled back a part Tri-Klops was going to take from her. He stood up and she instinctively stepped back reaching for her staff, a little intimidated to be honest.

He looked menacing as he towered over the sixteen year old. “There’s nothing to explain. I know how to fix him, the others don’t. And you and your 'Masters' are not people on our 'trusted' list.” He seethed as he grabbed the parts out of Teela’s hands. “Why are you still here anyway?” Tri-Klops asked placing the parts in their respected areas, quickly bolting them togehter and then walking over to another table across the room. There were more parts lying across that table. “You could have left at anytime. Or are you waiting for a ‘thank you?’” He sneered as he sat back down. “Sky-Sled’s over there, take it out. Leave it by the Mystic Wall or keep it or whatever. Just leave.” He growled looking at Trap-Jaws legs where Teela was pointing. There were more repairs to do down there as well as the right knee was starting to spark once more. 

“I’m not leaving yet. I want to know what really happened, and why he let me help him if he doesn’t trust anyone else, 'especially Masters.'” She said pulling up another stool. Tri-Klops turned his head slightly and grumbled, optic narrowing in on Teelas facial features. She meant her words.

“Because you’re weak minded and listened to what he wanted. You are easy to manipulate.” Tri-Klops growled and stood back up, reaching for Teela.

“Hey…” Tri-Klops turned. “She’s not doin’ anythin’... against ya…” Trap-Jaw said, eyes drooping and reopening a little. He had been in and out of consciousness the whole time. “She wants to stay an’ hear... 'bout big, bad ol’ Skull Face... let ‘er.” He said sitting up, immediately being pushed back down by only one of Tri-Klops’ hands.

“Idiot, stay down or the seams will come undone!” Tri-Klops yelled releasing his hold on Trap-Jaw, who just looked from the spot he was pushed at to the one responsible, clearly annoyed. “It’s none of her business and none of the other Masters either.”

“Ya won’t tell, right...?” Trap-Jaw said smiling as his mood switched yet again. He seemed more relaxed yet out of character now that he wasn’t dying, and of course under major anesthetics. 

His eyes narrowed on Teela. “C’mon, were off duty for th’ next while. Me, I’m off most likely for a few weeks.” Trap-Jaw grinned and pointed a finger to the fresh stitching on the side of his back. He sighed. “Skeletor doesn’t like me lately for some reason…” Tri-Klops walked over to another side of the room and sat at a desk, clearly in disapproval. Trap-Jaw shrugged with his one good shoulder, and then winced from the pain.

“What happened?” Teela asked. “What caused your Sky-Sled to crash?” She smiled, “Careless piloting?” She raised and eyebrow with a fading smile.

“Careless mouthin’ off.” He smiled dryly. “Skeletor… Like I said, he’s gunnin’ for me lately…” Trap-Jaw yawned and slouched down, receiving a quick glare from Tri-Klops. No moving, that’s what he had said. “I was complainin’ 'bout th’ job he assigned me, so he decided ta be a jerk. It’s what happens.” Trap-Jaw closed his eyes. “Hey, Tri-Klops… Have ya noticed how he’s been eavesdroppin’ on everyone lately?”

“He’s always done that, now be quiet and go to sleep.” Tri-Klops pressed a few buttons on his gauntlet and Trap-Jaws table moved into a better position for him to sleep. Surgery was over for now, Tri-Klops didn't need clear access to his patients back at the moment. And then he set to work on some papers, sketching something out.

“No, I mean, he’s doubled ‘is paranoia… ’s like he remotely turned on my Sky-Sleds microphone to spy on me…” Trap-Jaw tapped his fingers against the table he was on as he stared up at the ceiling of the cave in thought. “Aw… hey, can one of ya go an' get me a pillow?” He joked, clearly unable to fall asleep as he looked to Teela and tried to grin wide. 

Tri-Klops stood up and walked over with a scowl. “Aw… ain’t gunna hurt if I stay awake for a bit longer.” He said watching Tri-Klops tap the syringe he had just pulled from a cabnit near by. Teela looked from the two with one brow raised as they argued. The whole situation seemed less and less real. More like an endless nightmare than anything, being stuck babysitting Trap-Jaw and having to deal with Tri-Klops and his unfriendly personality. Both arguing like they've done this before. That set a stone in the pit of her stomach. 'What if this is normal routine for them, this constant battle for life?' She thought momentarily before being snapped back by more bickering. 

“Yes it will.” Tri-Klops said blankly, and inserted the needle in Trap-Jaws biological arm. “Relax, go to sleep, and I’ll wake you up later for reflex tests and all that ‘stuff’ you never care to remember.” Trap-Jaw frowned in a childish manner and slouched down further on the table; the medicine immediately taking effect. Tri-Klops lowered his voice. “And we’ll talk about your little 'pet' too, she’s not staying here.” Trap-Jaw yawned wide and Teela huffed as she went to protest.

“N’aw, you leave ‘er alone. She saved my life, I gotta thank her. At least,” He yawned again and his eyes closed. “At least tell ‘er how to get outta here then… ya jerk” He said, very playfully on the last word, and then dozed off. Tri-Klops grumbled, but nodded grudgingly. Trap-Jaw was a friend, one hard to come by in Snake Mountain. A few simple requests shouldn’t be too hard. 

'Tell her how to get out safe. Then I'm done.' He thought trying to ignore the small warrior watching them. 

Teela had gotten off of her seat and now stood a little ways away, out of Tri-Klops’ radius while he had brought over the needle. She realized that they had dropped their voices even lower in the last sentences. She tensed and prepared for battle, and hoped to the Elders she could take Tri-Klops on her own. But he just turned and walked over to another table that held what looked like his dinner from earlier. “I suppose you’re hungry...” He said, more a statement to himself than a question towards Teela. 

“No thanks…” She said wrinkling her nose as Tri-Klops picked up his dinner plate with the leftovers. It looked like he had only eaten half of what he dished for himself, and she really didn’t want to share what was left of the cold stuff. 

“No, not this.” He frowned, unsure weather to laugh at her stupidity or just continue with his usual emotionless demeanor. “This is mine still, just has to be heated up.” He said walking towards a doorway in the stone walls; obviously built by him. “This way, there’s other food you can eat. I’m too tired to head out and take you to the surface now, and the sled needs minor repairs and a recharge if you're to get out of the Dark Hemisphere, so you’re going to have to wait until morning.” He stopped for a moment to look back, plate in hand. “You’re going to be here a while, you’ll get hungry. Might as well come get something to eat, or at least know where the water and food are…” Tri-Klops trailed off and walked away shaking his head. 

Playing nice with others was not something he was good at. 'Just tell her how to get out. If the Sled blows up while she's riding it the only one who might care is fast asleep on a medical table and unable to go anywhere even if he wanted. No need to tell her technical shit.' He grumbled as he mentally argued with himself. 

Teela frowned and started to follow, thinking about how Tri-Klops looked standing there in the doorway holding his plate of food. He looked like a normal guy, not a crony to Skeletor: Overlord of Evil. She started in his direction, looking back once instinctivly to check that Trap-Jaw was fine. He was breathing visibly now. She thought for a moment walking a few paces behind the Swordsman. ‘The big lug might be an OK guy really, if he wasn’t working for Skeletor of course. Even Tri-Klops.’ She said to herself watching as his pace never quickened to get rid of her or slow to accompany her smaller steps. 

Ram-Man had said the same thing about Skeletor once, that ‘He might even be an OK guy, if he wasn’t so evil’. She smiled at linking her thought process and Ram-Mans, and then shook her head as Tri-Klops turned a corner. He hadn’t glanced back yet. 'Too much time spent in Ram-Mans company.' And defiantly too much time spent here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter I wanted to start getting into introducing what I thought the characters were like in their down-time, or at least what they are like in the dream I had. I tried to keep as close as possible to their canon personalities and ways of thought, but I had to have room as well to make this move towards the end result. I hope it's not too boring, as I find it's kind of dry for the first little while, but details, details. Needed allies on the journey to the final destination of understanding. Right?   
> And I apologize for any and all misspelled words in this fanfiction. My Word Document appears to be lacking in its definitions and I'm horrible at spelling to begin with.


	3. Human Instinct

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a friends FanArt picture.  
> Trap-Jaw has suffered a near fatal trauma after an argument with his fellow evil-doers at Snake Mountain, and with Teela the only one near by it's up to her to save his life. In a twist of events and hard lessons, will these two become kindred or even worse enemies? Who will be dragged into it and what will the rest of Eternia think?

There were so many passages and caverns in the cave they were in, it was near impossible to pinpoint which tunnel they had just came out of. Teela was slightly relived that for saving Trap-Jaws life she was welcome the night, even if there was still a lurking danger that it could all possibly be a trap in disguise. As for Tri-Klops he was like the stone statues that surrounded their walk; unemotional and unchanging. It was as if he didn't even remember she was trailing him. Nothing was going to change that she was in enemy territory. Her guard was still up. 

For all she knew Skeletor might already know of her presence there. That Doomseeker had acted funny when it saw her and left in a strange rush. She wanted to know what was wrong with it and why Tri-Klops hadn't mentioned it yet. That would be an inquiry for Tri-Klops later though as right now it didn’t really matter compared to the fact she was willingly following one of Skeletors evil creeps anyhow. Not to mention she also had to try and memorize each turn they took in case of an emergency. Small chitchat wasn't on the menu while only half her brain was seemingly working and it was taking all her will to memorize her footsteps.

'Left, left, right, left, straight a half click and down some stairs, left... Oh this is one giant turquoise maze...' She sighed to herself. 

It would have been a pain having to traverse back to the surface when, admittedly, she was more than just a little drowsy herself. All the adrenaline from the day’s events had drained her dry and she was now running on nothing but fumes and fear. That was enough to make her start to be thankful for the opportunity to finally get some rest and possibly something to eat and drink. 

Her other option would have been to have to cross the Dark Hemisphere at night while monsters of all kinds roamed about in search of their own food and other objects, or people, to entertain themselves with. If Trap-Jaw had stayed unconscious the whole time and Tri-Klops had forced her out like he had planned in the first place she wasn't sure what she would do. It was defiantly not something she wished to come up against after dealing with Trap-Jaw all day. She was physically exhausted from supporting him during their walking travels and then lifting him up every time he let his mechanical legs give out. And then there was helping him onto the Sky-Sled, and still supporting his heavy, nearly dead weight, holding it onto their ride as they raced through the dark sky. 

Thinking about his she realized how now she was mentally exhausted as well, going over everything she just went through and everything else she would be dealing with in the hours to come. What she would need to do and what she would need to come up with to explain about her absence to the other Masters, and more importantly at the moment, how to keep herself alert enough to not fall for any tricks Tri-Klops might throw her way. She knew little of the Swordsman, but she did know he could be ruthless on the battlefield while still upholding honor, and a master at mind tricks and strategies. 

Teela remembered for a brief moment one of the times when she and Tri-Klops were fighting on the battlefield. It took him one well-placed blast to knock her back and nearly kill her. In her hazy vision as she became unconscious, ready to slip away to Death, she thought she saw a conflict of sorts in his face, just before he walked away from her dying body; a hesitation. And then later she heard that He-Man had charged over and took over the battle. Then after, every battle against Skeletor that Tri-Klops was seen on the field she would have at least one nightmare about the night he almost killed her. In the more recent battles to date Teela was now becoming aware that Tri-Klops seemed to avoid her and instead would go after He-Man more often. 

'Was he ashamed? No, that couldn’t be it.' She thought. He had probably thought she was too easy a target and not worth the energy and time. Teela clenched her fists and stuck her chin up proudly and with slight agitated anger. The hesitation could have been a tweak in her own memory for all she knew. The Sorceresses blood did do funny things to her, so it wasn't too far a leap to suggest her memory would linger on one picture for a moment in remembrance. Perhaps it was even her own mind willing herself to never forget who it was who had struck her down, who it was she herself would eventually bring to Justice one way or another. She narrowed her eyes on the back of the Swordsman’s head. Teela had gone from frightening herself to remembering her place as a warrior.

Tri-Klops on the other hand never looked back and never changed his pace, his visor didn’t even twitch. He was like a machine ever marching forward to his programed destination. Teela almost dared to tell him he acted more mechanical than Trap-Jaw, but she remained quite for her own safety when they passed a torch and his sword and optics gleamed for a split second. What would his reaction to a comment like that be anyways? And how many times had he heard it before, living in Snake Mountain with all those grotesque and cold heartless beings? Still they walked in silence. 

Each tunnel they passed was marked strangely and had odd carvings and writings around them. There were what seemed to be plans for new inventions scribbled onto the stone in ink and in other places etched lightly, that was all Teela could make out. The other carvings were of strange creatures that couldn’t truly be real other than in fairy tales. Their proportions were off, and some were too horrific to have ever existed, even too much so for something from Despondos. “What are all these?” She asked stopping to point to an odd looking statue of a rather hefty looking creature that stood on its hind legs with small wings spread from its back. It was surrounded by smaller creatures that looked like cats with six legs with spikes around their manes, some half the size of the standing creature. Tri-Klops didn’t answer, but instead glanced slightly and grumbled. “Caveman, huh..?” Teela breathed a bit annoyed and began to walk again. 

They turned a final corner and walked into what looked like a living area, bedroom, or kitchen. It depended on where you looked in the room as it was a mix of all three and more crammed neatly in their own split sections 

“Whatever you can find…” Tri-Klops motioned to some sort of cooling unit. Teela moved closer and opened it, frigid air escaping. Not much food was in it had been the first observation, but then again it was probably just Tri-Klops by himself here. She looked around quickly noting the placement of objects. Her father had always said to her and Prince Adam, “Know your surroundings, it could mean life or death." Defiantly only one person slept here. One bed, one slightly padded chair, one dresser. Everything was neat and organized, to a point. Two doorways, but one was sealed off entirely. 

The second thing she noticed in the cooling unit was the coils of ice connected to the machine. That’s how he was keeping it cold, but where did it run to? She went to examine the unit until Tri-Klops walked past her and pulled a second plate of half eaten food out to add to the one he was already holding. 

Teela lost interest in the unit quick and stood back and away from reaching distance of Tri-Klops. She began to look around at her surroundings again, keeping a side eye on the moving Swordsman. At a better glance she realized the room wasn't just organized to a point but really just good placement of chaos. Tools and paper lay askew on the table to the left of the door they had walked in from, in a corner straight ahead from it there was a bed which was neatly tucked in, the area around it perfect with even a small area rug. The kitchen, a few dirty dishes in a tub soaking and ready to be washed. Everything looked like it had a place; it was just a matter of time before Tri-Klops would put it back at the end of the day. This didn't even look like an evil-doers home. 

Speaking of the three eyed helmet head, he looked impatient for something. ‘Tidy up time?’, Teela thought, suppressing a smile. Well he wouldn't be getting to do that tonight and he knew it. Nonetheless that wouldn’t stop him from making ghosts of faces of annoyance. He had a busy night ahead of him between a wounded Trap-Jaw and an unwanted guest.

Tri-Klops soon retreated away from Teela to another contraption and placed his plate on top, then lowered a lid and set the flame underneath on. Teela watched this, intrigued for a moment, before she hear her stomach growl and decided she should go back to feeding herself. She pulled out a bowl of fruit and some half decent looking meat out of the cooling unit and then looked around to find the spot Tri-Klops used to cook. 

“There’s really no where comfy to sleep other than my bed…” He stopped. Teela whirled around, plate wobbling in hand, mouth gaping. “I’ll change the sheets I guess… but I should make you sleep on a table or something, not the other way around…” He smirked when he turned to her to see the look on her face, pleased with himself that he had startled the young girl. He had seen her reaction. Heck, he was sure he heard her heart try to rip itself out of her chest and run out of the room. He shook his head with a laugh, just loud enough for Teela to hear. 

Not that he wouldn’t mind having someone like her in his bed for a night; she wasn’t bad looking, hell, she was damn right beautiful but it wasn’t going to happen… unless he forced her… Tri-Klops smirked for a moment but then let it fade as he refocused on his reheating dinner.

No, Trap-Jaw would flip. Tri-Klops could see that, even through the drugged and adrenaline daze the Cyborg had displayed since he arrived. There was no taking Teela tonight, not by permission, or force. Besides, he was off duty for another two days. He really didn’t want any bruising and lacerations before going back to work. Skeletor could handle all of that on his own without reason. So instead he watched his food heat until done. He then walked past Teela once more and sat down at a small table on the other side and proceeded to eat. 

Teela stayed still a moment longer, watching the Swordsman prod his food before beginning to eat. ‘He’s just trying to work you up, it’s what he does…’ She tried to convince herself, beginning to feel more and more comfortable with the idea of wandering the open plains of the Dark Hemisphere at night alone. ‘He works for Skeletor, he enjoys watching others freak out… don’t panic, just act normal.’ She looked around. “Where do you, uh, cook?” Tri-Klops pointed towards the other side of the odd contraption he had used. She walked around and looked down. There was the meat grill, she hoped, as it had no real bottom to it only bars and more torches underneath for cooking. 

Teela looked at it uncertain. “How do you…” She stopped, looking closer at the dials that lead to little tanks, supposedly containing pressurized gases and then back up towards the mechanical torches. Tri-Klops stood up and walked over to the tub with the dirty dishes in it. “How do you work this thing? What did you do to it?” She asked standing back upright, perplexed. 

“I upgraded it. Here,” Tri-Klops walked back over and turned some dials. The heat erupted from the grill, but with blue fire, just like his other contraption. “It’s more efficient without the smoke from the fire; same effect, but no choking hazard.” Tri-Klops smiled, pride in his invention, the paused. "But there's a small chance of explosion if you don't turn the gas off now." He stood straight up and pointed to the devices as he turned on of the knobs off. “These switches allow gas to emit which activates…” He stopped, looking down at the young warrior. She was Man-At-Arms' daughter, the one man who left Tri-Klops in the shadows of inventions in Skeletors eyeless sockets. He wasn’t about to go about explaining his inventions to his rivals daughter! “I’ll cook, you go sit.” He grumbled pushing Teela out of the way. She stumbled and nearly fell over, catching herself just by the edge of the cooking table.

“Hey, what’s the big idea? Can’t take being second place all the time, is that it?” She huffed as Tri-Klops turned his back to her, working away. He gritted his teeth then turned once more as his optic narrowed in on her.

“I’m not second place, and you’ll learn to shut your mouth if you’re to survive tonight!” He growled, his voice raised, arm slashing open air to the side. He seethed for a moment then advanced towards her. Teela backed up and grabbed for her staff. “Out of my way!” Tri-Klops pushed passed Teela and stomped towards his bed area. “Watch the damn food,” He shot turning towards his dresser. "I doubt you can fuck that up." He proceeded to pull out some large sheets of cloth and placed them on top. They were most likely the clean sheets he had talked about. He then confirmed that when he ripped his other sheets off his bed and tossed them aside. 

Teela watched in shock for a moment, and then began to relax as she noticed how, once Tri-Klops set his mind to work, he started to cool down. His movements became rhythmic and unbroken as he stretched the sheets over the bed. Obviously he knew what he was doing, and again, was one of Skeletors more cleanly of minions. She then looked over to the sizzling meat. It was beginning to brown and looked like it needed to be turned over, but Tri-Klops had brought the spatula with him and stabbed it into his makeshift of a dresser. “Uh… Tri-Klops…” She started. He paused, his muscles tensing. “It… needs to be flipped…” She said walking over. Better to let him know you were coming over to take something rather than to be on the receiving end of a backhand or even something worse for invading his space. He went back to work once he realized he still had the required tool in need that Teela was pointing to. 

Carefully Teela pried the object out of the wood and returned to the darkening meat. She flipped her dinner and looked back at the Swordsman. This was going to be a long night, filled with most likely nightmares, if and when she finally fell asleep. 

Almost as if reading her mind Tri-Klops asked in what Teela could only presume was his joking voice, "Want some of that sedative to help you sleep?" Teela glared at him, appalled by the mere thought of her being fully unconscious and unable to wake until the sedative wore off. That wouldn't be bad enough then there's being in the same room as, well, that 'menacing, emotionless brute!' A shiver ran down her spine and she glared at the cooking meat. 

Tri-Klops looked up and to his side at the dresser, visor rotating just enough to bring Teela into view. Stiff body language, disgust in her face, finally silent. He hit it home. Finally a quiet, yet still unwelcome, guest.

When he finished changing the pillow cover Tri-Klops threw the final piece down onto the bed and walked away. "I'll sleep in the medical room with Trap-Jaw to keep an eye on him. Get some sleep. You'll need it." He paused for a brief moment by his desk. "I won't waste time in the morning in sending you out. The Sled will be ready when you wake up." He walked past the teen and to the entrance of the cave room. "You have a long journey back to your 'Palace'." He said with a sneer, walking out leaving nothing but the echoes of his footsteps. 

"Ass," Teela breathed as she pulled her dinner onto her own plate and turned the dials into their 'OFF' positions. Sleep; maybe once her stomach was full she would be able to drift off. The ever fear of either men walking back in while she slumbers pressed against her chest, but Tri-Klops was right. She wouldn't make it back to the Palace if she didn't try. 

Sitting on the stool by the table in the room she began to pick at her meal. The fruit looked less appealing the longer she prodded it. 'It could be poisoned...' And the meat was now too much a portion as she had gone most of the day without food and her stomach had seemed to have shrunk and was displeased with the sight of the solid and tough food. Maybe smaller chunks would be more appeasing. 

Pushing the plate across the table and getting up she began to search for a knife. Just a fork with such a thick chunk wouldn't cut it, literally. But with no luck in finding a knife she was now just delaying in eating. Settling back down she picked up the chunk whole. "This is so barbaric." She moaned, taking a bite out of the thick cut. It was dry and rubbery. Something you would only get from a poor market in the Dark Hemisphere. But then again that might be all the men of Snake Mountain were able to get. No one else would dare sell to them in any condition. Any good products they get are most likely stolen. 

Giving up on the rest of her meal Teela placed the bowl of fruit back into the cooling unit and brought her plate over to where Tri-Klops had scrapped scraps off his. As a second thought, however gross it seemed to her, she placed her leftovers into the cooling unit for reheating in the morning. She would be beyond starved by then and perhaps able to swallow the chunks of poor meat. 'Disgusting,' she thought with a sneer.

At the bed now she couldn't help but stare at the perfection and care Tri-Klops had given. Only the pillow, at a possible last moment of his frustration getting to him, was thrown on without half as much care as the rest of the bed had received as it was crumpled against the wall that the bed was pushed up against. The sheets and blankets themselves were tucked and pulled so not a single wrinkle was viable. 

Sitting down she could feel that the bed was made of a straw stuffing. The pillow was the only thing that had feathers of some sort in it along with a more finer straw. Very poor indeed, and very hard to sleep on. She lay back on the bed, head on the pillow willing herself to fall asleep. Eyes closed and breathing relaxed she felt like she could just drift off. But every so often, when her mind would go blank, her body would jolt itself awake as though she had just fallen off a cliff and hit the bottom. Every time this happened she would open her eyes, the room lit up by the burning lamps in every corner and one in the center of the room. In a further attempt to fall into peaceful slumber Teela grudgingly got back up and proceeded to snuff out each lamp. In a second thought she left the one in the center of the room alone. Wick close to its end, the flame would no doubt extinguish itself later in the night. Hopefully giving Teela enough dull light to feel safe enough to sleep. 

Back at the bed Teela crawled under the clean and crisp covers the Swordsman had given her. Eyes drifting she could now feel the cool darkness around her. Laying still and relaxing she could feel her muscles tense with pain, angry with her about the days events. She curled into a fetal position and let herself drift away into nothingness. No dreams, and surprisingly no nightmares. 

Short lived was her peace in the chaos though for when she awoke through her sleep filled eyes nothing had changed. It felt like she had been asleep for the whole night and part way through the next day even, but when she looked at the still lit candle in the center of the room her heart sunk. Being fearful she had over stayed her welcome by sleeping too long she had panicked which evidently became the reason she woke so soon. She figured she had just fallen asleep when her internal alarm went off, sensing danger where there was not.

The only explanation that she would still be there past morning would be Trap-Jaw. Maybe he would argue with Tri-Klops to let her sleep in, maybe he would devise a plan to keep her. Teela shivered at that last thought. Seeing light in the room meant she wasn't out for more than and hour or so; a simple nap. She grumbled and rubbed her eyes as a chill passed over her. 

Feeling unable to fall asleep again after her power nap the young warrior got off the bed. She pulled the covers back up as best she could and looked around. Nothing had been moved which meant neither of the men had entered. With a sigh she walked over to the lantern and picked it up, careful not to spill any hot oil on herself or blow out the flame she began to walk towards the doorway Tri-Klops had earlier led her through.

"Ok, stupid idea, but really, what else am I going to do." She argued with herself as she peered around the doorway. 'Because like I'm really just going to sit here in ignorance of what's happening out there. Better to know what I'm up against if they decide to plan an assault.' 

There were to strong possibilities going on. They were either both asleep, or they were up to no good. At least the mobile and emotionless jerk could be up to no good, the other being most likely still out cold. Who knows, maybe they had alerted Skeletor and let him know that the Captain of the Guards' daughter was now in their custody. A good bargaining chip to get Trap-Jaw back in Skeletors good favors. They were sorely mistaken if they thought she would go quietly. 

Peering around the dull corridor just outside the room she stood in Teela could just make out the next few turns. Each had some weird engravement etched above their archway and she was lucky enough to remember which one she walked through as they were all so unique. Though tracing them back through would be a little difficult in the next to nothing light. But as she walked there was something else she was drawn to that made choosing each tunnel easier as she traversed down the corridors. There were sounds coming from off in the distance, echoing off the stone walls. And as an inventors daughter she could make them out to be the unmistakable tapping of tools and other such equipment. Which meant Tri-Klops was still up.

Oddly enough it didn't frighten her at the realization the Swordsman was awake. She remained calm more so than she had been this whole adventure. It had something to do with her childhood and the soothing sounds that now rang in her ears. She could remember the countless times she had woken in the night to walk down the corridors of the Palace and found her father hard at work building, fixing or testing a new invention. It had gotten to the point that she could almost walk there without opening her eyes, and then she would sit down with her father to help. 

Tri-Klops would be another story however. These familiar sounds gave her a sense of false security. This man was nothing but a creature built of lies and aggression. He would not care for her company nor would he assure her that there was nothing to be afraid of. He would delight in her screams, laugh at the fear displayed so bluntly on her face if she were to go to him like she had gone to her father when she was younger. He would smirk at the attempt of bravery he would see in her tired eyes and stiff body language, knowing full well she was in his domain with no way out, no hope of escape without his help. 

All of the men, and even Evil-Lyn, would do the same. A pleasure they all had in common with their master. There were no warm feelings here in this labyrinth of caves and tunnels. There is no reassurance for her as the familiar sounds echoed in her ears. Survival was all there was to it. A game to them; life and death to her. Cat and mouse, and she was the lone mouse with dozens of Ferrel cats peering down at her. 

Teela shivered as she rounded another corner, more determined to find a Sky-Sled in working order. There had to be another one somewhere. Tri-Klops wouldn't just walk all that way, he had to have something she could use to escape. Turning another corner she found herself in a corridor unfamiliar to herself. She had been following the sounds for a while now which had in turn lured her far enough away from her safe trail. In a panic she looked around for any of those unique signs, any she recognized that might hint at a way out, but to no avail. With only one real choice now she turned back around and began to follow the sounds once more until she would find the source. Unless she wanted to become lost even more with no chance of ever getting out, lost for eternity deep within the depths of Eternia, far from home and friends and proper food and.... She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. She was beginning to frighten herself again.

She couldn't stand it. So taking a deep breath she listened to which way the sounds were now coming from. To her left was another archway and another engravement. She followed her ears though instead of her eyes as she walked down the tunnel, the sounds echoing in and out of each doorway. Walking the path with her light now about to extinguish Teela hurried her steps until she turned one final corridor. She was now in a long stretch of a tunnel; no other exits to the sides and a light shining at the end. This must be where Tri-Klops resides. All the noise points to it. 

With light footsteps Teela started to walk towards the light, eyes stinging from the flashing rays. Her own lamp now extinguished she was guided only by the light ahead of her. With one last deep breath and a few words of motivation to herself she stepped over the threshold and into open view of whoever was on the other side. Without a doubt there was the hunched over figure of Tri-Klops, working away at something, his back turned towards the doorway. The Sky-Sled also in the room sat over in a corner pushed against other machines and half worked on projects with tools spread out all over everything. This room would lite up with the cutting torch in the swordsman's hand, shadows danced playfully across the walls as though they had no attachments. 

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" She asked, her voice dry and unsure. The flame stopped and brought the room into a dull flicker. Luminous rocks that sat on desks, work tables and lined the bottom of any open wall area brought the packed room into a low light, their glow and eerie green making Tri-Klops' face sickly. "You should be asleep." He stated, looking in her direction. "What's wrong, the young Defender afraid of the dark?" He jabbed placing his tools on the floor, now sneering. "Go away." He growled. Teela watched for a moment more, waiting for something, but she didn't know what.

Finally she made a move. "Sleep, with you stalking around, yea, right." She walked over to a small glowing rock. "What are these?" She asked picking it up and looking it over. 

Tri-Klops kept his back to the girl as he packed up a few tools and papers into a sack. "'Glowing rocks', what else?" He barked sarcastically, starting his way to the doorway. Teela looked over and started in his direction. "If you value your life, fuck off." He seethed, walking a little faster now. 

Teela watched shocked for a moment, but then studied the Swordsman's posture as he hurried away. He was slouched over, optics of his helmet to the ground as he clutched his bag trying his hardest to get away. This didn't indicate a solid threat but an empty one. She jogged to lessen the distance between them. It was a stupid idea to follow this close, Tri-Klops in the lead of the very narrow tunnel with the only way out, except going back to the room they came from which had no other exit. But she was curious as to why the villain wanted nothing to do with harming her all of a sudden. 

"Hey, wait up. I mean, if we both can't sleep, why not work on Trap-Jaw together?" She asked, surprised at her own boldness. She had meant to press her luck, not volunteer her time to servitude. But Tri-Klops huffed and kept his current pace. "What, no words of wisdom this time?" She joked, finding the Swordsman to be less intimidating in this state. "Well then, I'll just find him myself. Trap-Jaw, and I can't believe I'm saying this, is much better company than you." She said as they entered the more complex section of the tunnel. She then went to turn down a different corridor entrance of the labyrinth.

"Wrong way." Tri-Klops said, stopping to watch her. Teela looked up and frowned remembering she had no idea where she was. Though she was sure she could get to the room she had been in eventually, 'Maybe.' 

"Well then, take me to him. Or I'm going to follow you." Tri-Klops went to protest but Teela raised an eyebrow like she so often does to Prince Adam. This was a very bold move but Tri-Klops seemed too tired to put up much of a fight. It reminded him of Evil-Lyn when she did that. "Unless you want me stuck down here for good, randomly appearing in the same room you're in or accidentally finding something you're trying to hide?" Tri-Klops frowned in great displeasure and motioned with his head in a different direction. Now she was just being cocky.

"This way." He corrected himself, posture tensing even more as he re-positioned the bag of tools. 

They began their walk and Tri-Klops looked to Teela, who was now smiling at herself. "You know, you're almost as bad as Trap-Jaw." He said looking ahead once more so she didn't make eye contact. "Again, just how long were you two alone?" He asked as a snide remark. Teela scrunched her nose in disgust.

"Better having a sense of humor rather than being completely incapable of emotion." Teela shot back, glaring at the side of Tri-Klops' visor. It turned slightly to glance at the young woman.

"Better no emotion than to chance connections with people who are only going to die." Tri-Klops relayed, turning a corner and pushing on a stone lever. Teela watched unsure. "Faster way back." He mumbled then stopped. "And you didn't catch the humor in my question?" He shrugged and walked ahead of her again, leaving Teela confused.

Jogging once more to catch up as the wall began to close she studied the Swordsman carefully. "Yea, everyone will die," Teela said uncertain of the evil warriors sudden ability to open up. "But it's the time spent with each other that matters. Obviously Trap-Jaw understands that, so you should no doubt have a handle on it as well seeing as you two seemingly have some sort of connection." She stated eyeing the man. "What's so wrong with 'living it up'? You are 'evil', I thought you would have plenty to love about your life."

Tri-Klops walked up a set of stairs and paused with clenched fists. "There is nothing to love when you are a captive in your own life." He opened another door and walked into the room Trap-Jaw was heavily sleeping in. "There," He waved Teela on as he placed his bag against the wall. "I'll be back in an hour or so with the Sky-Sled for you, then I'll take you out of here." With that he left leaving Teela more confused and feeling a little hurt, not for herself, but because she was starting to understand how things worked at Snake Mountain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter were getting more into a trust bond. We have a young defender who is spending time with a man who at one time nearly killed her on the battlefield, and another man she has been spending a lot of physical and emotional energy on. Shes starting to ponder now why they do what they do. Young and curious Teela is testing her waters as she waits to be released back home. At this point all three characters are starting to loose control over the little masks of pride they wear, cracks are appearing and the person behind is starting to come forwards.  
> I haven't introduced any other character yet, and won't in the next chapter either, until there is a strong bond forming. Right now we are still timid. But I find it amusing to write about these three anyways.


	4. Masks We Wear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a friends FanArt picture.  
> Trap-Jaw has suffered a near fatal trauma after an argument with his fellow evil-doers at Snake Mountain, and with Teela the only one near by it's up to her to save his life. In a twist of events and hard lessons, will these two become kindred or even worse enemies? Who will be dragged into it and what will the rest of Eternia think?

Teela sat on the stool in the large room beside Trap-Jaws sleeping body. He was starting to get his regular color back into his face and his breathing had stopped hesitating on intake. Although his eyes ever moved behind his eyelids in what was most likely a nightmare, the giant cyborg didn't stir. Teela couldn't help but ponder to what terrors haunted him in his drug induced sleep. Was he reliving the crash? 

She sighed and looked at the stitching stretching up along his side, peeking around from under his back. Tri-Klops had had to open him up quite a bit to work on his internals. She was sure there were even more along his back where Tri-Klops had worked to stabilize all torn organs before he came to collect her. It only took about ten minutes to get from where they met Tri-Klops to get to his medical room, and that was when he brought Teela through his loops and swerves for fun. How much time was cut when he brought Trap-Jaw? Did he perform surgery for the whole near forty or fifty minutes? That wasn't the cold man she knew on the battle field. How could he be a medic?

Instead of putting too much energy into questions she wouldn't get answers to Teela thought back to the crash instead. She had seen him, or at least a Sky-Sled, flying overhead and then spiral out of the air from her spot on the opposite side of the boulders he had crashed at. Now that she thought hard about it she might have even seen the initial blast that made him loose control. She hadn't seen however how he had landed on the ground below and how he and the Sky-Sled unwillingly meshed with each other in their impact, tearing each other apart across the ground they skid on. 'That would have been a horrible sight to witness. To happen to anyone.' She thought as the leaned on her arms against the table. 

The other thing she now could now see clearly in her memory was the anger and not pain that had been in Trap-Jaws eyes. It was not aimed at her though as he had been staring her down and attempting to stand on his wrecked mechanical legs, but towards Skeletor. He was looking through her then. 

'How much hatred does he carry with him all the time, working for such a bastard?' She thought rubbing her eyes in exhaustion. That hour of sleep did only so little to help her own condition, and now that she gone on that little journey and had found Tri-Klops she was even more fatigued after trying to act bold in front of him, and yet now she was afraid to curl up on the second clear table in the room and let herself drift off since he would be coming back. 

Trap-Jaw stirred momentarily as his hand began to twitch, making Teela sit upright on the stool thinking he was going to wake. She smiled her best and quickly thought of something witty to say about how she saved his ass. Trap-Jaw though just turned his head away from her to the side and relapsed into a deeper and more quiet sleep, his hand making one final fist and relaxing. His breathing becoming more rhythmic and heavy, and from what the young warrior could see across the table the rapid eye movement had ceased. His nightmares had apparently stopped and he was now in dead sleep. Teela sighed in envy which eventually turned into a long yawn to her surprise.

"Well, I can't go back to that room Tri-Klops had brought me to earlier since the three eyed freak is supposed to be coming back soon anyways," She said aloud to herself as she looked around once more. "And I can't exactly ask him to let me stay longer after pressing his buttons the way I did." She yawned once more and looked towards the door he had gone through. How long had it been since he left anyways? 

Teela looked down at the stitching again and as her eyes drooped down and her head began to sag a little she noticed a rag on the floor covered in blood. She didn't think anything of it at first, but at a second glance she gave it closer inspection and realized it was the torn piece from her shirt that she had used as a makeshift gauze. It was at a moment of necessity and she didn't even think about it then when she tore her top. Frowning she looked down at her outfit now to see the torn and ragged edges of her top. Through the events that had conspired she had completely forgotten her shirt was ripped and her stomach and waistline had been showing. 'This is most likely the cause of all the cold chills I've been getting.' She mused to herself, crossing her arms over her bare stomach. As she thought about this she started to become more and more self conscious about how little she was wearing now, and also irritated as she realized two grown men were acting disturbing towards her at times and had never mentioned anything. 

'Probably for their own selfish and disgusting reasons.' She seethed, daring to glare at Trap-Jaw and then giving a sharp glance down the empty and dark corridor. Her arms tightening around herself in defense. It was now beyond her of how she was going to explain all this to her father once she got home. Should would receive an ear-full for not having called for backup. She wasn't even sure if her communicator would work down in these tunnels.

She yawned again looking away from the dark passage. Waiting a minute more for any new signs of movement from Trap-Jaw Teela decided she should find something to keep herself occupied, so she hopped off the stool and began looking around the room in an attempt to find anything of amusement to perhaps help wake her up. Sleep was so dangerously close she could feel it pulling her down like a weight, and her mind was now begging her to lay on the floor even for just a short nap. Not something she was willing to let happen if Tri-Klops was going to be back any moment. His comments earlier were nerve racking and he might make good on some of his darker thoughts now that she had become more than a little bit of a bother and an easier target. 

So she looked around again but found it rather plain in the room. The only thing that could kept her mind off sleep for a while more were the few remaining parts on the tray next to Trap-Jaw for his robotic arm and the strange device hooked to his chest. The rest of the room was bare other than for medical equipment and scraps of paper. Deciding she was too dizzy and tired to try and figure out how to put Trap-Jaws arm back together Teela focused more on the device. She went back to the stool and ran her hand over the machine, feeling how warm the silver metal was. Then she felt Trap-Jaws breathing increase slightly through the device. 'Somehow this machine must be attached to him, intermingled with his system neurologically.' Her inventors mind wandered over the possibilities of what the machine could be used for.

As she thought about this, eyes getting drowsy, her hand remained in place feeling Trap-Jaws breathing become steady once more. Her head began to grow heavy and tilt downwards as her eyes drooped shut. The yawning had now become stifled by this point as she now absently lay her head down on her free arm against the table. 'I wonder how though...' She cut herself off as her brain, too drained to care anymore as she slipped into a blank and dreamless slumber. Not even noticing that Tri-Klops had entered the room and approached her, nor that Trap-Jaw was now awake and looking at her. She was burned out and the world was gone.

  


*

  


When Teela awoke she was still seated on the hard stool and leaning against the surgical table with one hand outstretched over Trap-Jaws chest. She was just starting to stir when Trap-Jaw began to panic. He had been awake the whole time and at seeing the young girl lift her tired head and give one last big yawn he hurriedly, but carefully, turned his face away so it didn't look like he had been watching her sleep. His eyes then began to dart around the room looking for some something that could help him. His heart began to race as he feared what her reaction might be when she learns that she had slept like that for near over two hours. This was something new to him, being so friendly. He hadn't been sure of what decision would be best, weather or not to have Tri-Klops move her or let her stay resting against him. In the end of their hushed conversation though neither of them actually wanted to move her. Tri-Klops least of all.

Tri-Klops of course argued about how it would be funny when she wakes up, how stiff and sore she would be, and embarrassed. He wanted witness it first hand for her having chosen a stool over a freshly made bed and a cyborg over a soft pillow. He seemed a bit hurt in Trap-Jaws opinion, not that he would admit to it. 

Trap-Jaw clenched his mouth tight and tried to breath normally as he thought of what to do; how to play it. No doubt something bad was going to happen in the end of this either way. He had no idea how to thank her for saving his life, or even if he should considering who he was and who he worked for.

Then in a sudden realization of where she was Teela pushed herself upright and away from the wounded villain she was laying against, in turn causing herself to lose balance on the stool and have it slip out from underneath of her. Her eyes went wide as she reached outwards for help, Trap-Jaw turning his head to look at her fall But not quick enough to catch her. She landed on the floor on her backside and gave off a loud grunt as she put her hands down to support herself. Letting out long but low groan she put a hand to her head in an attempt to still the now spinning room, feeling a bump where a cut had been.

Giving off a deep, dry chuckle after the initial surprise, Trap-Jaw peered over the edge of the surgical table. "So, how cushioned was yer fall?" He grinned wide, watching with mild hidden curiosity at the young warrior, one brow raised mockingly. This wasn't the start he was expecting.

"Ouch..." Teela breathed out as she began to stand. "Elders that hurts," There was now a sharp numb and tingling sensation beginning to enter her arms to accompany the bruise on her head. "I didn't feel the landing though. I must have been asleep on that stool for a while..." She considered as she couldn't feel her behind, now giving a large stretch and another yawn before the cool air gave a quick reminder that her stomach was still bare. She bent back down with her arms hugging her stomach. 

"So yer sayin' ya got a numb ass." Trap-Jaw grinned again and made to sit up before receiving a sharp pain in his side, reminding him his wounds were still fresh. He didn't like being strapped down and unable to go anywhere. "An' I need to piss." He grumbled point blankly, looking around for Tri-Klops to assist him somehow. He hadn't gone in over a day now, and moving made his bladder feel like it was going to explode. 

Teela blushed at the sudden front of personal information and found herself looking around as well, staring down the black corridor in the absence of anything to say on Trap-Jaws new subject. Instead she began on what was supposed to happen for her before she had fallen asleep. "He was supposed to come back for me in an hour, not leave me until..." She stopped and looked around again in confusion and disorientation. What time was it anyways? She had no idea how long she was even asleep for. The cave made it so hard to tell weather it was day or night or how much time had even passed. It was like she was in a time capsule and was the only one who cared. 

"He was here just after ya dozed off." Trap-Jaw said as he tried to turn his head all the way around to peer down the corridor behind him. He too was looking for the missing Swordsman's attention. "Then he was gone. He was in an' out a few times ta check up on me an' decided ya looked too funny so he left ya alone." Trap-Jaw shrugged with a laugh at Teelas unpleasant face and proceeded to pull at a large cord attached to the device hooked to his chest. "Tried ta get him ta move ya, but he wouldn't listen ta me. Seemed pissed about somethin'.." An alarm went off in a high pitch that made Teela cover her ears. "Actually, didn't wanna move ya, really. Ya seemed so tuckered out. Least I could have done I guess." He continued in a regular tone under the siren. Then he looked up from the device with an agitated face and upon seeing Teela with her arms wrapped around her head, staring at him with displeasure, he then gave a half apologetic look through the noise. "He'll be here in a minute!" Ye yelled over the irritating sound, wiggling the cord in his hand he had just pulled.

'He's a madman!' Teela thought as she watched the cord pump the last of it's fluids out before auto shut off engaged. What if he needed that? 'And that horrible siren! When will it stop?' She glared at Trap-Jaw who just looked at her as apologetically as he knew how to.

Sure enough within minutes Tri-Klops came storming into the room, sword drawn and green optic narrowing in on the two trespassers of his domain. "What the hell are you doing?" He spat in Teelas direction, accusing her for the sake of it, before turning on Trap-Jaw where he forced himself to keep his empty, clenched fist down. "This is not a toy you idiot!" He barked, stabbing his sword into the ground beside the table with more force than necessary. He then proceeded to snatch the cord out of Trap-Jaws still raised hand and reconnected it into its rightful socket. The siren stopped almost instantly. 

Tri-Klops then pulled his sword back out of the ground and sheathed it to make his hands and the area around him more available, leaving a pathway to a drawer the syringes were in. He pulled one out and began to stalk back towards Trap-Jaw.

"Well I needed yer attention!" Trap-Jaw yelled as he tried to move away from the incoming needle. "I need ta take a fuckin' piss!" He shot as he squirmed towards the edge of the table. Tri-Klops paused in brief shock for a moment and then lowered the arm with the needle, muscles in his jaw working overtime. He looked like he was ready to kill and that scared Teela more than anything. Visions of the time he blasted her coming back in a flood, momentarily turning her to stone as she stood beside the stool and table, arms tightening even more around herself.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Tri-Klops raised his fist back as though to strike, but gritted his teeth and seethed for a moment before spinning around to toss the needle on the bench behind him, all muscles in his arms tense. He then proceeded to kick at the surgical table base as he tried to keep his temper under mild control. "You're a damned fool!" He all but roared. "You'll put your life in more danger just so you can go to the fucking toilet?!" Tri-Klops continued, receiving a concerned look from Trap-Jaw as he watched the Swordsman busy about the table now cleaning up the tools that scattered, cussing under his breath. He didn't turn around as he let his rage out on the fool behind him.

In an attempt to explain himself or at least get somewhere else in this madness of a conversation Trap-Jaw continued. "Well I ain't gunna piss myself." He was attempting to make it sound like it was a good idea at the time. "An' I ain't gunna die with a full bladder neither if I got the choice." He looked down at the machine attached to his chest.

Tri-Klops spun around. "You twit, you'll empty your bladder and your bowels when you die anyways, so it wouldn't matter! Piss yourself now or die and piss yourself." Tri-Klops stomped over and began releasing brakes and connecting the main part of the machine to what could be a backup battery on the table itself. Then he began to roll the table towards a closed doorway on the one side of the room that Teelas had her back to most of the time. "And you have your own personal servant right now who even sleeps at your side; you could have had her do this!" Tri-Klops let the table roll into the wall by the door as he opened it, revealing another dark room.

"Ouch! You ass!" Trap-Jaw whined, grabbing his stomach as Tri-Klops pulled the table back and began to push it through the opening. "An' she ain't gunna do this!" He started to argue, feeling a bit embarrassed that Teela was even there to see this now.

"Shut up or I'll make you do this yourself." Teela heard as the door slammed shut; the echo lasting an eternity.

She stood there alone in the middle of the room for that moment of eternity, in that time capsule alone. She stood for that moment and then another in complete silence, her mind trying to catch up to what had just happened. Then as a pain grew in her chest the young warrior realized she had been holding her breath. this whole time. With a quick exhale she came upon an even quicker regret of having let all the air out so fast, and grabbed hold of the nearest work bench to lean against. Her fear had seemed to escaped her with her exhale. 

"Well, that was rather..." She thought for the words to describe it as she looked towards the closed door, the room still spinning and sparking in her vision. Shuddering she turned away to look around the room she knew to be bare for something to get her mind off of what she had just bore witness to, and what was most likely going on in the closed off room. The dramatic events were too much for her to handle after having just woken up. Her processing ability was still back at the point where she had woken up leaning against Trap-Jaw. 'I need a scolding hot bath with a wire cloth...' She thought gloomily.

Now looking at the now empty spot where the table had been she was starting to come back. "Looks like it hasn't moved in a while." She said as she studied the thick patch of dust, which in itself made her wonder. Giving another more in depth glance around Teela noticed that this room, unlike the one she was supposed to have slept in, was not very well kept. It was more barren in objects other than tables and medical equipment, but now looked after. 

As she wandered she caught herself on a work bench that had a row of power tools for surgery. So she knelt and ran a finger under along the floor, feeling the thick dust there as well. Pulling back up she wondered if Tri-Klops ever did an extensive clean of more than just his bedroom area. After all, this was supposed to be his med lab, shouldn't it be sanitary? She also started to wonder now about the other rooms in the tunnels and the condition they were in, as she didn't exactly take notice of the rest of the places she had wandered into while she had been trying to find her way out. 

"So Tri-Klops, as clean as you are you still needs a woman's touch. And here I thought you would have made a better caretaker then the maidens in the Palace." She joked to herself, feeling a little better now that she had a few hours sleep. She felt more refreshed and ready to handle whatever she needed to so she could make it back home. Maybe now she could even figure out what to tell her father and the others Masters about her absence, and the state at which she returned in.

Hearing a rushing noise Teela stood away from the patch of dust and didn't dare look towards the door as it bashed open against the wall. "Ya don't need ta be such a fuckin' prick!" She heard Trap-Jaw shout. Then the table was pushed up beside her from across the room in what seemed like half an attempt to hit her and the other just to get it in place. Tri-Klops continued past them and stalked out of the room back down the corridor he had come from, not a word to either of them.

"What was that all about?" Teela mustered, looking on, once more in slight terror, at the retreating Swordsman.

"He's just being a real ass today. Why? I don't fuckin' know!" Trap-Jaw growled as tried to re-position himself, seething in pain instead so he let himself settle back down into the position that was apparently making him uncomfortable. "He doesn't get much sleep, which is no one's fault but his own, so he's a grouch." Looking upwards to the ceiling Trap-Jaw bellowed, "He needs his fuckin' nap time!"

To that there was a slight explosion from down the tunnel which Teela could only guess was Tri-Klops' response. Trap-Jaw turned his head to face straight forwards and clenched his jaw looking at nothing in particular. "I don' know what his problem is." He repeated. 

Teela looked around for a moment out of nothing else to do and then back at Trap-Jaw, who although he was very good at masking it, seemed very uncomfortable. "How about I help you into a better position?" She offered, a little disbelieved at herself. "Then I'll tell you what I think might have gotten him this way..." She looked to Trap-Jaw who just stared at her, examining her as though she had hit her head more than once, but never argued as she pulled him up farther along the table towards the small pillow and helped him shimmy around into a spot he found more suiting for his stitching. 

"What would you know about that blasted Codex?" He found himself asking as he watched himself slip down the table a little. Tri-Klops had tilted it upwards a few degrees, enough for the slick thing to not want to keep it's tenant.

"Well, after you were put out-" Teela pushed the table back down to where it was at an angle where Trap-Jaw could still sit up a bit but without sliding. 

Trap-Jaw thought for a moment and then nodded with a slight grin. Remembering back to the once sided fight about not wanting the needle. "I didn't do anythin' stupid, did I?" He asked all of a sudden, cutting Teela off. She looked at him startled. She was now beginning to feel like shock and terror were all she would feel while waiting to go home. She hoped that this was just one large and vivid nightmare she could wake from.

"Uh, from what I could understand of it, nothing out of the usual..." She began and Trap-Jaw rolled his eyes. 

"No, nothin' towards you..." He stopped himself and looked down, brows furrowing in deep thought. "Where'd my belt go?" He looked up, a shadow of hurt and confusion etched onto his face. Apparently not all the drugs had worn off yet.

"You dropped it back at the secret entrance to Snake Mountain... in an attempt to lessen the weight on the Sky-Sled..." Teela recounted, now beginning to worry. "You don't remember that?" 

Trap-Jaw thought for a moment. "Nope... not really..." He looked around. 'It must have been really bad if I dropped my belt.' He thought, feeling sad now and quite bare as he stared at his stomach. Then he looked over and a sly grin crept onto his face as he realized he wasn't the only one whose stomach was now showing. "What made ya all of a sudden decide ta change yer fashion choice?" He looked up mischievously. Teela looked down and her cheeks flushed, arms crossing over her bare stomach. "I didn't know ya liked belly tops." He continued, scratching at his own bare and now cold belly.

"This happened as I was trying to save your life, you ungrateful-" Trap-Jaw put up his hand in defence as Teela raised a fist in the air.

"Whoa, no need ta get all self defensive. I know, I'm just teasin'." He tilted his head playfully. "I ain't gunna hurt ya. I ain't even got the capability at the moment." He nodded down towards his wounds, his hand now held the machine over his chest. "My arms' not even put together proper yet. Trik leaves that for last." Teela glared at the cyborg and crossed her arms over her stomach once more which only made Trap-Jaw chuckle. "Hey, mine's showin' too." He said now patting his abs. 

"Well it's not proper." Teela huffed. Earlier she was upset that no one mentioned her bare stomach to her, and now she was upset she was being teased for it and the villain in front of her was trying to make light of it. "Do you want to know what's causing Tri-Klops to act like this or not?" She pressed in an attempt to change the subject and hopefully get the giant cyborg to stop glancing down at her stomach. Trap-Jaw nodded in a friendly manner which just unnerved Teela even more. 

"After you were put under he took me to where what I presume is his room that also houses his kitchen, and showed me where the food was. He was already irked that I was staying as a guest, which apparently meant using his bed. He changed sheets and then left while I ate. I couldn't sleep though so I started to wander through the tunnels and eventually came across him working on something." Trap-Jaws face made it clear he was more than a little confused, or wanted more details, but when Teela stopped he remained quiet. She could see though in his brows that it was killing him to listen without interrupting, but she continued. 

"When I found him working he already seemed different. He snapped at me and retreated out of the room instead of lashing out at me like I had though he would, which I don't know why I did it, maybe it was because he had walked away, I followed him. I tried to get him to talk to me but he was nothing but one giant back." Trap-Jaw stopped smiling and nodded as he knew that opaque mask all too well. "So I gave up and decided to come back here, but before I got too far and lost my way he corrected me for some reason, and then led me here himself. Afterwards though he stormed out saying he'd be back in an hour which I guess I fell asleep before he returned..." She stopped and looked at Trap-Jaw who now had looked away from her and was staring at the spot his belt had been. "What's wrong, or should I dare to ask?" She leaned against the work bench, studying the cyborg.

"That silent mask is in place for a reason. An' it just so happens that, from what ya tell me, last night he seems ta have unwillin'ly let it slip off for a moment." Trap-Jaw continued to keep his eyes averted from Teela. He wondered for a time how much he should tell her. 'If I tell 'er about Trik, he'll kill me for good.' He thought. 'I'll let that jackass tell his own side.' Trap-Jaw mused to himself as he began to pull at the exposed wires of his mechanical legs. 'I most likely opened up to her a bit an' acted like a damned fool as I was dyin', so why not tell 'er my side of things?' He thought as his hand now hovered over where his belt used to be. 'Dropped this after all.'

Teela watched Trap-Jaws actions for a moment as he moved through his own thought process. She had a feeling he was going to try explaining something to her, but his hand moving from place to place concerned her a little. She thought about the way Tri-Klops had acted and decided this must be tough for him to, as Trap-Jaw had said, let her in. "You OK?" She asked finally when she noticed he had been staring at the work bench to his left for a while now.

"Yea..." He said, mild confusion in his voice. "That's closer than I remember..." He pointed to the bench and then looked over to the one Teela was leaning against. "An' that one's farther..." He frowned. "Ass didn't even lock me in place..." Teela smiled now realizing it herself and took hold of the table, readjusting it to its regular floor position and locking down the wheels.

"No, you two were at it pretty good. Sorry." She said as she locked the last wheel into place. "Mind you, you did almost hit me on the way back over here." She said giving him a playful look as she stood back up. Trap-Jaw smiled and shrugged.

"I wasn't in control of drivin'." He added as he pointed his thumb behind his head and down the passage. "Seems I'm not in control of drivin' myself a lot lately." He paused and waited for any remarks from Teela, a part of him wishing she'd start a snide banter with him like Evil-Lyn would instead of all this calm talk and willing an emotional breakthrough. He sighed instead when she said nothing. "Don't worry 'bout Trik, he's really just an ass all the time." Trap-Jaw heard himself say, the words were now starting to form without much effort, as though he had begun to bleed out once more. "He'll either like ya or he won't. There's no in between with that guy." he looked down to his stitches to check for blood. Nope, nothing. 'Maybe it's internal? Or m I really going soft on this girl?' He thought.

"Yea, well with the way things are going I'd rather him not like me, but still honor his word and take me back to the surface so I can go home to a hot shower and a decent meal." She gave a side smile through her own self pity but let it fade as Trap-Jaw returned it. 'You idiot. You get to go home to fine foods and friendship while he's stuck with that stuff that could only be considered as burning material and brutality.' Teela frowned and hugged herself as she leaned against the workbench again. This time she was to Trap-Jaws left beside the stool she had picked up off the ground.

"Don't worry, he'll let ya out. I'm awake now an' if he don't then ya just stick close an' if he goes for ya I'll grab 'im." Trap-Jaw pretended to reach out and grab the would be assaulting madman. Though when Teela didn't smile at this he stopped and looked at her bemused. "Hey, I'm not gunna hurt 'im. I still need a medic." Teela looked up and shook her head.

"No, it's not that. Did you even hear me when I was talking about going home?" She asked now a little shy and embarrassed.

"Yea, I heard ya. Ya wanna go home ta have a shower an' a decent meal. So what?" He asked scratching at the under of his helmet, just where it met his jaw. "I know our food can be shit."

"So what? That's it? Doesn't it doesn't bother you that there's a major quality difference between our two homes?" She dropped her arms and grabbed the edge of the work bench, eyes now looking to the ground. She let them rest anywhere, just not on Trap-Jaw.

"That's what this is? Yer takin' pity on me? Wasn't saving my life enough, now ya gotta worry about the quality of the food I eat, the state of the water I bathe myself with, how hard my bed is?" He pulled his brows together for a serious look. For some reason it bothered him a great deal now that she was avoiding eye contact. "Hey, kid, I don't care." He pressed, trying to get her to look at him once more. "What I've got is a lot better than some ships I've lived on growin' up. An' though I may not always wake up with all my parts, I still wake up, alright?" 

Teela looked up at him, her green eyes had a distinct haze about them. They looked lost and hurt. Lost because she didn't know what to say to him, what to ask to get a better understanding about his situation and he wasn't upset at their differences but more at the fact she was. And she felt hurt for Trap-Jaw, for Tri-Klops, and even for poor Stinkor who had been lying on the floor back at Snake Mountain, even though she didn't know if he was anything like the man in front of her. 

She thought hard for a moment. She had gone from not wanting to even consider Trap-Jaw anything more than a lowly, vial creature to now considering him a living, near equal being. This had been a long and tiresome journey that didn't make any sense and she just wanted it to be over, though at the same time she wanted to understand why she was starting to care so much about the people of the Dark Hemisphere, and why, in the pit of her being, Trap-Jaw was starting to matter. 

The warrior woman focused her eyes and looked Trap-Jaw dead in his. "Tell me why you work for Skeletor then." Her green stare pierced into his yellow eyes and he shifted uncomfortably. "Tell me why you allow yourself to be put through so much abuse if you know you could have better." She listened to her own words moments after each fell from her mouth. She thought about them herself while Trap-Jaw stared hard at her, wondering if he should listen to her commands. 

More fidgeting on his part and then a dark expression fell over his face. He sighed and it lightened a little. He was going to tell her anyways so there was no need to let her get all emotional like this. "I can't tell you everythin'," He began, looking away from her and down towards his mechanical built arm, running his organic hand over it. "That's just too much an' it just brings too many of the others into it, an' they wouldn't appreciate that if they found out. An' I can't tell ya my whole back-story, we ain't got a whole year." He chuckled looking over with a slight grin, now scratching around the device hooked to his chest. "But I'll tell ya what, ya come an' drink with me an' I'll tell ya as much as I can..." He trailed off, expression softening as he looked down at his legs. "Well, when I'm up an' about." He laughed this time.

Teela clenched her muscles where she stood. What was he going on about, and did he just ask her out? 'I think I'm going to be sick.' She thought, feeling her body trying to get away. Yet she remained where she stood, arms now tight around herself once more, glaring at him. After a moments pause she shook her head. There was no use putting energy into something that wasn't going to happen. She looked at Trap-Jaw who just continued to stare at his legs, mind seeming to have lost itself in thought; in reminiscence. Teela having noticed this relaxed even more. 

"Hey, Eternia to Trap-Jaw." Teela jabbed lightly. He shook his head and looked over.

"Sorry, just tryin' to think 'bout what I can tell ya right now. I'm not much of a talker unless I've had a few good strong Drink in me." He looked to her and shrugged. "Ya can even bring someone if ya want. I'll be bringin' Trik of course. He's the only one who can handle me if I don't have the sense to walk back home." He started to laugh aloud. He seemed set on going out for drinks.

Teela raised an eyebrow at this. "Yea, I'll think of who I could bring with me to have drinks with two of Skeletors finest." Her tone made her sound as if she was mocking him. Trap-Jaw started scratching the back of his neck with a put out look and Teela rolled her eyes. 

"I'll find someone I can trust then, but among the Masters, it's going to be hard to find someone who's willing to go out drinking. Not to mention I'm not of legal age yet." Trap-Jaw laughed again and looked at her with a 'Who cares?' expression which made Teela feel more exited about actually doing it. Though the matter still stood that she and he were both in no position to go out at the moment, so she pressed. "But are you still going to tell me anything today, or are you just going to give me the run around until Tri-Klops comes back for me?" Trap-Jaw nodded now content. With a deep breath and one last look down the corridor to make sure Tri-Klops wasn't there yet, he began.

"My legs, they were gone before I came ta Eternia, an' this device on my chest an' that cool scar you've seen, it ain't just superficial decoration. I ain't gunna get into that today though. I'll give ya the basics an' maybe you'll understand." He paused as Teela looked at the device, now seating herself on the stool beside him once more. "It ain't gunna blow up neither, so don't worry." He laughed and she shot him a sharp look. 

"That's not what I was thinking." She said. Trap-Jaw just smiled.

"When I met Skeletor he wasn't the same lunatic ya know him as. He had a plan, an' he was a leader. A great leader who never threw a punch unless ya deserved it but some stuff happened. I ain't gunna get into that today even though his back-story might help out all of ours. 

"Eventually I grew tired of his new found madness an' I wanted out. He had become reckless an' violent, much as ya see him today. So, I told him I quit. Took it quite lightly really. Just beat me an' threw me out." Teela narrowed her eyes at him. That was lightly? Trap-Jaw shook his head. "Naw, lookin' back on it I was plenty pissed that day. That was the first time he'd done that ta me. Now, it's routine and rougher." Teelas expression softened slightly at Trap-Jaws tone. He wasn't telling the story as though he was still angry, more just disappointed. 

"I took off an' decided I was best on my own. Decided I could raise my own army-" Teela stifled a snort of laughter which drew Trap-Jaws attention away from his story-telling. "I'll tell ya more 'bout that part later, when we go out for drinks." He continued as she placed a hand over her mouth. He glared at her playfully now. "Anyways, I went back with my army an' tried to take on Skeletor. It backfired on me an' that's how I lost my arm an' jaw an' got the discoloration in my face." Teelas eyes widened. "Yea, the bastard tried ta melt my face off." He chuckled, remembering how he almost beat that skull-faced demon.

"Skeletor did this to you?" Teela asked, interrupting Trap-Jaws remembrance. She was in more shock than she had expected. "And yet you still work for-" Trap-Jaw cut her off, seemingly now annoyed.

"Yea, he did it ta me. An' yea, I still work for 'im. But this is where I start to explain why." Trap-Jaw shifted so he could look at Teela better. He wanted to look her in the face and have her understand what a messed up world this was. "He was gunna kill me, drop me over the edge of Snake Mountain. Mistook my reach for his nonexistent throat as a plea for mercy where I was actually tryin' ta still kill him." Teela looked at Trap-Jaw as he talked. "He laughed and threw me ta the side as Tri-Kops came up reportin' my army was almost wiped out. So Skeletor walked away to finish pickin' them off an' left me to Triks care."

"Is that why you'll only go to him?" Teela asked, staring into Trap-Jaws yellow eyes. 'There must have been more life in them at one time.' She thought.

"Yea, I guess ya could say that. He did bring me back from the dead. He didn't have ta; he didn't really get along with anyone at that point in time, though I had tried once or twice to befriend 'im." Teela tilted her head in question, trying to think to a time before Trap-Jaw was like this. "Trik didn't, and still doesn't, like anyone. Yet he stayed all night an' worked on me. As I understand I had died, an' he worked on me 'til I was brought back. He gave me my jaw an' arm. He made it so I was able to get back up an' walk again." Teela remained silent. "I owe 'im my life, more times now than I can count. 

"My reinstatement didn't come without a price though, of course. I'm no longer trusted and he doesn't care what happens to me." Teela wrapped her arms around herself and leaned back a little ways, looking down at her knees. "I used ta stay at Snake Mountain 'cause I was trying to plan my revenge against Skeletor, but as you've said it's not worth it." Trap-Jaw remained looking at Teela. She looked up at him when he paused. "I don't stay for Skeletor anymore, for any reason, I stay for Tri-Klops. An' his reasons ta stay are a bit more complicated than mine, more personal and hard to understand." He frowned, brows together and eyes nearly burning into Teela as he leaned forwards. "There's a reason we wear these masks Teela, there's a reason we don't take 'em off."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Int this chapter, which I hope flows well and doesn't found rushed or choppy, we have Teela coming to form what appears to be a type of friendship with Trap-Jaw. Still mistrusting of him but better understanding, as well as with Tri-Klops. Both men are starting to learn to like Teela, Trap-Jaw more than Tri-Klops who still wishes she wasn't around.  
> I had to add humor to this chapter as the rest were more dry and in character. This is more of a parody story, so there will be weird little snippets here and there that don't really fit with the characters canon personality. This was a little break within the darkness of the lives of those living at Snake Mountain, as we get back into a more darker tone in the next Ch.  
> This chapter took me two years to complete. It won't take that long before I finish the 5th CH. though. I aim to be a month at the most. Two if it gets really bad. This chapter is about 1,000 words more than the previous CH. and I'm hoping it doesn't sound too rushed. There was a lot I started to cover near the end of this chapter. It took me so long because I started to loose interest in my chapter plotting and then I just got ill (now diagnosed with fibromyalgia as the cause) so it took sometime ti will myself back to it. I wanted to upload all 4 CH.s right away though because I already have them all uploaded on my FanFiction.net and Deviantart.com accounts.


	5. What Lurks in the Shadows

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Moving on to the residents of Snake Mountain. Characters are being added and treachery flourishes in the shadows of the Mountain.

A large green light swirled circles in the middle of one of Snake Mountains more important chambers; clouds of the toxic spell spilling outwards and down onto the dark, cracked floor. The rooms very energy that of dark and foreboding with its lava seeping up from within the core of the planet and into the very bloodstream of the once living snake. This was not a nice place to stumble upon by accident on the best of days, but for reasons which had already begun to play out this was now a breeding ground of hostilities and violence. Snake Mountain, without even knowing it, had begun to cave in upon itself. Its ruler was slowly losing his iron grip, and the fear and hatred which he installed were only helping along in his own downfall. If this once mighty Overlord could only see how far that he himself was slipping away from sanity, perhaps he could see how far the rest had fallen in his tracks. But there were still those few who did not follow their Master so blindly.

The soft glow of lava-red was put to shame by the presence of the toxic green spell which shone intensely around the edges, such as it's casters internal fury and insanity. For within this light was shown a clear picture of one of Snake Mountains Sky-Sleds which was now racing through the Dark Hemisphere, low on the ground in an attempt to avoid detection as its two riders, seemingly in a desperate situation, worked together to move forward to their destination. But where on Eternia were they going, and why thought the evil overlord, would this young Defender be out on such a risky mission all by herself? A mission which brought her so close to The Mountain and its inhabitants. It didn't make sense.

Skeletor, who slouched on his throne and clicked his claws against the stone arms of his seat, stared at the images as they flew past. His eyeless sockets ever locked on the curious yet infuriating picture. He had just moments before sent the tapped DoomSeeker back out on the chase after Man-At-Arms' young daughter to spy on her after it had delivered her message meant for Tri-Klops, and now he sees proof that she is actually working with his fool of an insubordinate, Trap-Jaw. The longer he stared the more enraged he became and the more eerie-red that grew to replace the blackness of his eye sockets. Panthor, loyal as ever, lay at his side snarling at the spell at work as its clouds trailed up the stairs and spilled over his paws. His vibrant green eyes narrowed in distaste at the two beings displayed in the image.  
"Curious, eh Panthor?" Skeletor all but growled out.

*

Evil-Lyn, who had been walking down another corridor after retrieving one of her newer Spell Books couldn't help it as her eyes wandered to the attraction of a green light flowing out of the Throne Room. Indulging her interest she walked carefully to the doorway and peered in around the corner, pressing herself against the wall in hopes of not being discovered. With an exasperated sigh, she stood back, realizing she was too far away to see what was really happening. 

"I need to get closer if I'm to know what he's up to this time." She whispered to herself as she scanned the room from behind the wall for her favorite spying corner, right behind a pillar just a few feet off of the left side of the throne. "Time for a little magical stealth." Her lips curved into a smile and she held her book close so nothing was lost in the transfer.

"Demons of Night- Cloak me in Shadow- Hide me from Sight!" She whispered her incantation, eyes momentarily glowing before her body melted into the shadows under her feet becoming one. 

Now as a shadowy mass Evil-Lyn was able to slither along the side of the wall, hiding in the shadows already dancing against the sides until she reached her hiding spot. Then she stood back up in shadow form, peering around the column to watch Skeletor from a closer, but not too close, position. Her dark purple eyes the only giveaway should Skeletor look in her direction.

Upon reaching her hiding spot Evil-Lyn discovered that Skeletor had been spying on Trap-Jaw and one of the Defenders. 'That little snipe, Teela, again.' She thought in disgust to herself as she glared at the spell screen. What could Trap-Jaw possibly be doing with her? Had he turned traitor once more? But upon closer inspection, she had to hold back her laughter as she realized Trap-Jaw was actually being assisted by the young girl. 'What have you done this time, you fool?' She smiled a hidden smile in the shadows.

Panthor gave a low growl and Evil-Lyn, out of caution and fear, leaned back so as to not be seen by the large cat. Then she heard Skeletor talking to his pet, a dark chuckle escaped him as he sat back. Not wanting to stay and possibly have her presence known, Evil-Lyn backed off and slithered once more across the ground and out into the hall around the corner. Standing up in her true form once a safe distance away she smiled in thought. 'I wonder how many of the others know what's going on?' She turned and started to walk back to her room, still smiling. 'Tri-Klops isn't here so that's probably where they're heading, given that they aren't going in the direction of the Mystic Wall. I wonder what type of trouble I could stir up for when they come back?' 

Entering her room Evil-Lyn placed her book back on her desk. She thought for a moment about what the benefits, other than amusement, would she gain from telling the other men. Sitting on her bed for a moment she looked around. If either of those two were to never come back she would make sure she had first dibs on any of their possessions, though she wasn't even entirely sure if those two had anything of interest to her. Tri-Klops was always very secretive so it might be worth the effort.

"I'll have to take a quick look before I bother getting into an argument with the others on any claim." She leaned back on her hands in deeper thought. "Even though neither Tri-Klops nor Trap-Jaw has ever really given me grief over anything, I won't let that stop me from doing what I do. Neither of them would expect any more or any less of me." Both of those men were never much of a bother to her. In fact, they were less barbaric than any of the others. They tried to treat her like a lady, which all but made her burst out laughing each time. Of course, like all the other men Trap-Jaws eyes would wander along her body when he thought she wasn't paying attention, and Tri-Klops, well it was always hard to tell just what he was looking at or if he was even awake. The device on his head didn't have the ability to indicate that and the swordsman always tried his hardest not to fidget when in anyone else's presence. 

She smiled to herself and stood up. It didn't matter how much those two tried to act like gentlemen, they were still henchmen to Skeletor and so they were both fair game when it came down to it. "Well then, off I go to window shop."

As she was walking out of her room, Stinkor, who had been about to open the door, was struck in the face making him lose his balance and fall to the ground. Evil-Lyn, regaining her own balance at the sudden halt, opened the door once more in annoyance, glaring daggers at the odious creature on the floor.

"Watch where you're going, you damn idiot!" Evil-Lyn snapped as she stood menacingly over her dimwit of an associate.

"I- I'm sorry!" Stinkor blurted out. He didn't move for fear of what the witch would do. 

Evil-Lyn who remained glaring at Stinkor crossed her arms. She was always pleased when the others showed fear towards her presence but it was a great annoyance they would cower the most only when they did something so idiotic as to make some sort of physical contact. A woman likes her personal space to be respected at all times. 

"Well? What is it that you want?" She prompted impatiently.

Stinkor, after realizing he might not be in immediate danger, slowly stood up. "I, I was wondering, seeing as you are better acquainted with him, if, if you know when Tri-Klops will be coming back?" Stinkor was still cowering in front of Evil-Lyn, but with his head lowered he had moved closer to the witch to stutter out his inquiry. He only dared to glance up at her face once only to lower his eyes right back to his hand.

Evil-Lyn nearly burst out laughing at this. "That's all? Why would I know when that tinkering fool will be back?" Stinkor shuffled his feet sheepishly as he lowered his head to his shoulders even more. He truly did look pitiful, head bowed so much he was bending into himself as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other in anxiety, pulling at his left arm protectively so it was snug against his body. What a mess. 

This is when Evil-Lyn realized what the dark substance on his fur was, it was blood, he was hurt. With a smug smile and an evil idea, she moved closer, crossed arms dropping to grab hold of the arm Stinkor was protecting, pulling it up which incited a cry from the mutated Paleezean. "You're wanting him to make you something for this?" Looking the bloody and, to her amusement, broken arm over she continued. "Some sort of brace or cast, perhaps?" This day was just getting better and better. "And what would you be willing to do for him in return for his help?"

Stinkor whimpered at the witches grip and tried to pull away. It had been a few days of brutal torment from all the others in the Mountain and finally, after Two-Bad took one final agonizing round out of him, they had gotten bored and moved on. For a few hours, he wasn't bothered by any passerby and so he thought it was safe for him to traverse the hallways without being attacked. In desperation, he was trying to find someone who might help him. 

Tri-Klops never showed any real interest in wanting to even be allied with Stinkor, but unless he had done something to mess up one of Tri-Klops' devices there was never any hostilities. When he remembered that Tri-Klops had helped Trap-Jaw to survive what had happened to him he thought he might be able to reason with or trade something for his help. It was a very big misfortune he had decided get up and go searching when he did. Stinkor had not wanted to run into anyone else, especially the Evil-Lyn, who, though had not taken part in his treatment, never treated him with any kindness either, to begin with. It wasn't a mistreatment she bestowed only upon Stinkor but that didn't make his fear of her any less. 

Evil-Lyn released Stinkor sharply when he did not speak. He stood there a moment more before deciding to leave. "Where are you going to go? You're not fit to travel any distance in a state like this. You can barely make it through the corridors as it seems." Pointing to his limp she mocked. Stinkor shrunk a bit more. "Why don't I help you instead?" The way she smiled betrayed her offering. Only more pain could come out of letting her help, but still, he had to ask.

"How? What would you do for Stinkor?" Turning back to look at Evil-Lyn only made her smile grow more vicious. This was not going to be without consequence.

"Oh, repair your wounds for one. How does that sound?" She teased. Stinkor thought for a moment as he looked at his arm. He didn't know how many of his bones actually were broken, all he knew was that he was in tremendous pain all over. Could her magic really heal him? 

"What if I also helped you exact revenge?" She started to walk up to him now. She didn't really care about avenging Stinkor, nor would she be the one to serve the punishment. That would all be something Stinkor would have to accomplish himself so any consequences would fall on him alone. She was more wanting to start a small riot out of pushing him in the correct direction, just showing him where the right tools were.

"No, no revenge. Too much trouble already." He responded. "Already had power, already suffered for it." Shrugging Evil-Lyn walked closer. Stinkor never really was the type to start problems around the Mountain so she already expected this answer.

"Alright, well how about I let you in on a little secret then?" She asked as she placed her hands gently on Stinkors broken arm. 

"Thought secrets weren't meant to be spoken, so why share with Stinkor?" He wanted to pull back from the witches touch but Evil-Lyn had already begun pouring her magic into his arm and it was starting to feel less painful already. A warm and tingly feeling instead of burning cold and sharp pain. "How will a secret help Stinkor?"

Evil-Lyn looked up from her hands to Stinkors masked face. "It's a very important secret. Only Skeletor and I know about it." She moved her hands around and watched as the mutant began to relax. "You would most likely be the only one to benefit from knowing we have a traitor among us." Evil-Lyn had a plan forming in her mind. It wasn't her original idea where she would have the rest of the men target Trap-Jaw. No, this one was more complex but still entertaining.

Stinkor looked at Evil-Lyn with uncertainty. A traitor? Here in Snake Mountain? But who would be so foolish to do such a thing, and how was it possible that he could benefit from knowing about it? "Who, who is the traitor?" Stinkor was a little unnerved by this news and red flags were starting to pop up but his curiosity outweighed his doubts of the legitimacy.  
"When I have healed you, go to Skeletor and lend your aid. Tell him you know there is a traitor and you are willing to spy on them. Convince Skeletor that you are capable of being a true warrior and perhaps the others will think higher of you in the future." Evil-Lyn stopped her putting her magic into the broken arm and produced her staff. Stinkor felt the pain return sharply and he winced as his breath caught in his throat. 

With a little effort, he inquired, "Stinkor do this and no longer get beat by fellow warriors?" The witch fondled her staff, staring at her reflection in the crystal ball. 

"Well, yes, of course. You aren't very liked by the others mostly due to," She paused and looked back over to her cohort, wrinkling her nose as she watched the vapors rising from the creature in front of her, "your smell." She finished pointing her staff at him. "But if you do this then they will have to respect you. We don't want a traitor walking among us without some sort of supervision, and you're the only one who has the ability to get closer to him. You're the least likely to be suspected as a spy." Her voice was calm and encouraging. She was attempting to bolster her fool associate's confidence.

Stinkor thought on this for a moment. He wondered who it was but it wouldn't matter, he would still do what was necessary. Skeletor would never get the power he wanted, that he promised the rest of them if there was someone leaking information to the Masters. He nodded. "Stinkor will go to Skeletor and offer his services. Stinkor will do this for his fellow warriors." He went to puff his chest out but shrunk back inwards at a sharp pain.

Evil-Lyn smiled wickedly. "Good idea." She could almost laugh at how willing and naive her cohort was. "Now, hold still. I have a lot of work to do and unfortunately, magical healing is not painless." The staff began to glow and before Stinkor could ask what she meant an excruciating pain washed over him in purple magic. Evil-Lyn grinned to herself as she listened to him scream. There were, of course, less painful ways to heal him, slower as well. There was no time to waste right now even if she wanted to be gentle, which she really didn't. This was all part of the fun.

*

Two-Bad and Mer-Man were on their way back from the armory, it had been their turn to catalog and polish weapons when the sound of Stinkors bloodcurdling scream rang out. It was louder and longer than any they had heard previously. The sound echoed shrilly through the corridors for some time before it gradually died out in what they could only guess was the lack of oxygen to continue. Tuvar and Baddhra laughed openly as they paused to listen. 

"Looks like you won, Baddrah." Tuvar quipped with the last of a chuckle. 

"Yeah, you no think he can scream so high. You lose again." Baddhra smirked smugly as Tuvars grinning face contorted into a rage. 

"You lose all the time! It's just a fluke that your dumbass has guessed correctly twice in a row!" Baddhra growled and leaned his head towards Tuvars.

"Your dumbass, too!" He shot, pointing his finger at Tuvars face. "We share ass!" Tuvar leaned back with a clenched jaw before responding with outrage.

Mer-Man had stopped for only a moment to watch in amusement as the conjoined pair bickered with each other. This was nothing new, but every now and then they would make for decent entertainment if the right topic came up. This wasn't exactly a new topic today though so with no interest to listen to the bickering pair and Stinkors screams, which actually made Mer-Man cringe this time around, he continued through an opening in the wall and began to descend the stairs to his next assignment. 

Beast-Man had asked earlier for Mer-Man to meet with him down in the Creature Pits for assistance. He had informed Mer-Man that he was in need of assistance with the underwater beasts he had reeled in the night before. It had surprised Mer-Man that his hydrophobic friend had even gone searching for aquatic creatures, to begin with. You couldn't get Beast-Man to take a bath to save his life yet now he possessed beasts that reside most of their time in the water. It appeared that he hadn't thought very far in advance on how he himself would be caring for them. 

Rolling his eyes Mer-Man continued down the stairs as he listened to Two-Bad continue to argue. They were on the move now and had passed the stairways entrance. Whiplash had found them not long ago and let them know Skeletor wanted them to report to him for a new assignment. If they survived walking into the Throne Room, that is.

Two-Bad hadn't even noticed the absence of Mer-Man as they continued in their argument on their own way down the corridor. It was common that they would drag themselves down into their own world while butting heads, so much so that often they would walk themselves almost off of a ledge or into an unstable area where the lava would pool. Most of the time though they would just walk into a wall or other inanimate object.

Tuvar had his hand gripped around one of Baddrahs ears while Baddrahs hand held onto Tuvars face. Baddrah snarled at his ear being yanked downward as Tuvar pulled his face away to the side only to bite down on Baddrahs hand with those sharp fangs. Baddrah howled in pain and punched at Tuvar blindly once he released his hand from Tuvars grip. 

Whiplash watched as Two-Bad stumbled past, his expression that of exasperation. When he had informed them earlier of Skeletors summoning they were being pretty decent towards one another and now he watched them go at each other's throats. He didn't have to imagine what would happen to them as they entered Skeletor's Throne Room. He had seen it many times before and having known both Tuvar and Baddrah before they were conjoined he felt ashamed each time Skeletor caught them. Whiplash feared that eventually he too would be punished just because he was the one who brought them to in for employment. 

"Will the two of you stop it? Do you know where it is you're walking to? Who it is you're going to see?" Two-Bad stopped their cussing and turned to the pale green giant talking to them. Whiplash had his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall, staring down at them.

"Yes, we know where we're going!" Tuvar snapped as he pulled his head and arm back away from Baddrah.

"We go to Skeletor in Throne Room." Baddrah snarled as he watched Tuvar.

"OK, good, you know where you're going and who you're going to see." Two-Bad glared with both heads at Whiplash now. "But do you remember what happens when Skeletor hears your bickering anywhere near him?" The two frowned in the realization. "You get blasted with the damn Havoc Staff. Knock it off the rest of the way there." Whiplash scorned, flicking his tail as he turned to walk away. "You're gunna get yourselves killed by that man one day."

Two-Bad watched Whiplash as he disappeared around one of the corridors bends. He was right, but although the two Bounty Hunters feared their boss and his wrath and what he was capable of doing they also seethed in their own bitter rage, longing for the day they would have the chance to be rid of him, for good, by their own hands. 

For now, it was all fantasy as neither of them could ever hope to possess enough power trapped in this combined state. They had each decided in their own minds that they had to be free of the other before they would even attempt to overpower the mad sorcerer. So with one last sneer at one another Two-Bad began his way onwards to the Throne Room, in silence.

*

Evil-Lyn had left Stinkor curled on the floor outside her room when she was done healing him. She had smiled down at him wickedly before reminding him to go seek out Skeletor and then walked away. Her magic had been excruciatingly painful. He was still having a difficult time breathing even though all the pain he had been in was now gone. He was in shock, really, which kept the air from entering his still tense body. 

He had felt every single one of his bones twist and realign as they healed. It was a reverse of everything that had been done to him and it all happened at a speed his brain was still trying to process. Each fiber of flesh, tendon, and muscle pressed itself back together, each broken vessel resealing in proper order. Even the blood that stained his fur had appeared to evaporate and fill his veins once more. He felt as he assumed he had felt before the onslaught of torment commenced. 

Looking back down the hall Stinkor tried once more to take a deep breath. Evil-Lyn had given him the way to gain some sort of good standing with Skeletor and his fellow henchmen, he just had to get up and accomplish it. His breath finally came and he began to push himself back up off the ground. No pain, only the memory of it causing him to pause in caution. Once standing Stinkor tested out his maneuverability by taking small steps which eventually built to larger ones. He flexed his arms slowly and then stretched. He felt like new. Now to start on his way to Skeletor's Throne Room before someone else showed up and claimed the opportunity.

As he walked down the hall and turned into the larger corridor Stinkor began to ponder why Evil-Lyn was being nice to him all of a sudden. He hadn't the slightest clue as to what benefit she would gain by helping him and in honesty, it was slightly alarming. Evil-Lyn never did anything unless she gained something from it or Skeletor commanded her. Even most times Skeletor would give an order Stinkor had noticed how smoothly Evil-Lyn would twist his idea in a way she too would gain something, even if it was just slightly so. 

Skeletor seemed to not understand what the witch was doing or found the little twists amusing as he never really overruled any of her suggestions. Stinkor would bet Skeletor knew full well what she was up to, this is why he admired Skeletor because in Stinkors mind Skeletor was no fool. Even if he didn't know he at least had to understand what would be gained and lost in each plan she offered. After all, she too suffered their boss' wrath just like the rest of her cohorts if she would fail and Evil-Lyn was too smart to let herself fall victim to a bad plan.

All of this evidence made Stinkor wonder in worry at her assistance; what was it that the witch wanted in return? Who was the traitor anyway? Had they done something to irk her and by having him do the dirty work of spying on them for Skeletor give her some sort of payback? What exactly was it they had done to betray those of Snake Mountain? It was all very confusing. Skeletor would explain it if he even wanted to give Stinkor the job. That was the next thing. 

Would Skeletor give him the assignment? Was Stinkor up to the task of asking for this position? Having discovered a traitor was sure to put the undead sorcerer in a foul mood so maybe demanding that he let Stinkor help wasn't the best move. 

No, not demanding. It wasn't demanding that Evil-Lyn had suggested, it was an offering of his services. It was polite, but hopefully not too polite as that also annoyed Skeletor lately. Ever since he had that belt attached to him that forced him to be polite and well tempered Skeletor can't decide if he dislikes rudeness or politeness. It's always a toss-up each time you talk to him, so it's always better just to show neutral submission. The Throne Room was fast approaching and Stinkors anxiety was starting to flare. He always did stupid things when nervous and he hadn't the foggiest idea as to how he was going to offer his assistance. He also wasn't sure if Evil-Lyn wanted her name to be mentioned, but then again how else would he explain how he learned of the traitor's existence.

Deciding to just go with whatever came to mind and hope for the best, as he often did when dealing with those far more powerful than he, Stinkor entered the Throne Room. Skeletor was sitting on his throne with his giant purple cat at his side. This was already far more intimidating than Stinkor thought it was going to be.

Cautiously he began to move towards the bottom of thrones stairway. Skeletor made no move to send him away, his eyes, or lack thereof, was hidden away within the shadows of his hood. You couldn't even see his skeletal face to try and guess what type of mood he was in, not that Stinkor was particularly good at reading Skeletors 'facial' expressions. He was no good at reading body language either but he felt as though Skeletor was in a decent mood, considering, as there were no glowing red orbs either. That was a good sign that even Stinkor knew how to read.

With no immediate threat, not even a snarl from Panthor, Stinkor straightened himself and looked up at his boss, hands already raised halfway up his chest in a subconscious gesture of defense. 

"Skeletor," he began, "Stinkor has learned that there might be something you could use me for." Stinkor began to shift as he watched Skeletors head tilt to the side. "Stinkor would be a helpful spy against this traitor." He added, his false bravado starting to dwindle. 

Skeletor began to laugh. "And what makes you think you would be a 'helpful spy' then, hmm?" Skeletor leaned to the side and rested his head on his fist, elbow on the arm of his seat. He looked quite relaxed which only made Stinkor wonder what was really going on. Skeletor, on the other hand, had become curious, despite his earlier irritation.

"Stinkor had come to the understanding he would be able to befriend this traitor and earn their trust. Stinkor will report everything back to you, Skeletor." Stinkor was starting to ponder whether this was a trick just to amuse Evil-Lyn and that's why she hadn't asked for anything in return for helping him. For all Stinkor knew Skeletor could just be in a good mood today and was finding it fun to play along with whatever happened.

Skeletor sat in silence for a moment. He thought he sensed someone spying, but it couldn't have been the odorous fool standing at his feet; the stench alone would alert him far before he even entered the room, as it had just a moment ago. The only individual capable of spying in such a way that even Panthor did not detect their entrance would be Evil-Lyn. She was apparently up to one of her tricks again it seemed.

Leaning forward Skeletor peered down at the Paleezean mutant in momentary thought, thinking over his own benefits to this new circumstance. He would ponder what the dear Evil-Lyn had to gain out of all this later. This plan sounded decent enough if only to bring some amusement to Trap-Jaws impending and certain end. Skeletor did like to mess with peoples minds as of late so he decided to go along with it all. His mood was beginning to improve.

"Yes, I do believe there is a role you can play, Stinkor." He spoke calmly, leaning back into his seat once more. Lazily gesturing with his hand he continued to speak. "Do you know who the traitor is? Has Evil-Lyn let you know this much at least before sending you to take on this task?" Stinkor turned his head side to side as he stared up at Skeletor. "Well, you must be curious then as to why this would be such an important role for you, and you alone." 

Skeletor waved his hand and a green light began to swirl just a few feet in front of Stinkor and then images began to appear in its center. Stinkor watched as, to his shock, images of Trap-Jaw appeared. He lay on a table in what appeared to be an underground room, and more shockingly Teela, one of the Masters, sat next to him.

"Stinkor will be spying on Trap-Jaw?" He asked as the images played out. "Trap-Jaw is working with the Masters?" He was confused. Trap-Jaw, though not as mean as all the others, never seemed like the type to do such a thing. He had heard of how Trap-Jaw once went off on his own and eventually tried challenging Skeletor, which lead only to disaster for himself but to change sides completely, to fight against the evil overlord in such a way was almost an unbelievable act, even for the bitter cyborg. 

Skeletor watched with amusement at Stinkors reaction. You could not see most of his facial expression; it was all in the eyes and bodily movements. "Yes, it seems Trap-Jaw has found himself a friend in the young Defender and forgotten whose side he's working for." Skeletor waved his hand once more and the images disappeared. "I need to know how much he has told her, what his plans are, and anything you can get out of him that will help us against the Masters." His eyeless sockets began to glow as the vexation he felt earlier began to seep back in.

"Stinkor will do this for you, Skeletor." Skeletor looked back towards his henchman, red glow dimming.

"I know you will do your very best." Skeletor encouraged. "I caution you to be wary of Tri-Klops as well," he added. "Trap-Jaw and Teela are with him at this moment and it is unknown if he is helping both of them or just the fool Trap-Jaw who has managed to hurt himself bad enough to call for Teelas aid. With any luck though by the time you find them all Teela might be locked in a cell or even dead." This too was a shock for Stinkor. Out of everyone in Snake Mountain he had always suspected Tri-Klops as being the most loyal. "It is the utmost of importance that Tri-Klops not know what you are up to. I need to know whose side he is really on." This would be harder than Stinkor had originally thought. He had not known he would be spying on more than one possible traitor.

"Stinkor will do his best. He will learn everything Skeletor wishes to know." Skeletors jaw shifted into what could only be mistaken for a grin.

"Oh, I know you will." His cheerful tone of voice shifted suddenly, "Or else the punishment will be severe for all of you." Stinkor began to back out of the room as Skeletor threw his head back in laughter. 

Two-Bad had just gotten to the Throne Room as Stinkor was leaving. They stopped in the doorway as Stinkor approached. Skeletors laughter was a concerning sign. 

"What he so happy about?" Baddrah asked as Stinkor passed them. Stinkor didn't respond but merely hurried away, not wanting to accidentally get in trouble with their boss for appearing to dawdle. Tuvar looked at Baddrah and shrugged his shoulder. They entered the room and went to stand where Stinkor had but before they got more than a few feet in Skeletor started to speak to them, his laughter cut quick but still the phantom of a grin on his face.

"Two-Bad, there is no need of you anymore for this assignment. You can go out on reconnaissance instead." The two looked at each other in confusion which frustrated Skeletor. "If you do not arrive in a timely manner you lose the fun jobs." He chuckled as he began to stroke Panthor. "Now get out!" He commanded. 

Without hesitation, Two-Bad turned and followed Stinkors example, walking fast and low away from their emotionally unstable boss. They got far enough away that they could barely hear Skeletors lunatic laughter before they slowed to a halt. Angry at what had just transpired they began to blame each other for being late and getting stuck on reconnaissance, the one job no one felt they should have to do. 

"This is all your fault, Yellow-Band!" Tuvar accused.

"No, you the one who started it, Blue-Face!" Baddrah countered. Once more the two began their bickering as they made their way down to the storage area in search of a working Sky-Sled.


	6. Troubles that follow Worry

Adam sat against a large boulder, legs outstretched, one crossed over the other with his arms up and folded behind his head. He sat with Cringer who laid in the sunlight by his side as he looked towards the setting sun. It had been almost an hour since he arrived at the Mystic Wall and he still saw no sign of Teela. This was concerning as he himself was late to arrive at the scene. With an annoyed sigh, Adam took his arms down and folded them across his chest. 'Where could she be?'

Becoming too restless to stay put he finally stood up, giving a large stretch and yawn before looking to Cringer. "Well buddy, guess we missed her, huh?" Cringer looked up at his human with concern but stood as well. "We'll head back to the Palace and see if she's there." He continued while making his way towards his Sky-Sled.  


Teela had been dropped off by her father earlier that day to study the ruins of the Mystic Wall. A team of Man-At-Arms, Teela, and Prince Adam were sent to collect samples from the ruins which would hopefully give them a better idea on how to rebuild the wall stronger than last time. This was to help stop the evil villains from breaking through to the Light Hemisphere after once again being sealed into the Dark Hemispheres side.  


Adam, though not particularly wanting to come and work on this task in the first place had been wanting out of the Palace. Things had gotten a little too quiet around Eternia and it was starting to make him paranoid, couple that with the restlessness of being cooped up behind solid Palace walls with guards every which way you looked and he was willing to do just about anything to get out. As though granting him his wish, the young Prince had been summoned to Castle Grayskull by the Sorceress concerning the Snake Men and their recent activities. Making an excuse and claiming he would be along shortly he left the father and daughter duo to start the errand without him, Teela, of course, watching him carefully as he ran off down the corridors of the Palace. Eventually, Duncan was also needed by the Sorceress and so he had left Teela on her own to collect samples until he or Adam returned, but after dealing with their snake issue Duncan was then called back to Eternos by Stratos and Roboto, leaving only Adam to finish helping Teela once he arrived.  


Cringer whined as Adam powered on the Sled. "Don't worry boy, she's probably back home, ready to kill us for leaving her to do all the work." This didn't satisfy Cringer who looked around uneasily. "Alright then, what do you want to do?" He asked turning the Sled back off. Cringer wasn't normally this nervous unless something bad was happening.  
Just then the wind picked up from the Dark Side of the Hemisphere. An aroma passed through the boulders and across Cringers nose, catching his immediate attention. In a panic, the green tiger took off through the rubble and out of Adams sight. "Hey, wait up!" The Prince yelled giving chase.  


Moving through the rubble Adam began to see what had Cringer so worked up. At the base of one of the larger boulders sat Teelas bag of samples and her water flask but Teela was still nowhere in sight. Cringer circled the area for a moment, sniffing the base of each boulder before continuing to head across the broken wall and farther into the Dark Hemisphere. There he paced back and forth until he came across the wreckage of a Sky-Sled, giving a low growl at the smells attached to the twisted and charred metal. Adam looked over the scene, a bad feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. It was obvious there had been an explosion, but what could have caused it, and who had been the unlucky pilot and more importantly, where was Teela?  


Looking up from the wreckage he saw Cringer staring down at the dirt with a snarling expression. A wet substance pooled across the hard ground under his paws, dark in color. Walking over cautiously for a closer inspection of the out of place wet substance, Adam realized it was drying blood. Out in the harsh environment, it was hard to tell how long it had been there, but by the amount and how coagulated the pool had become Adam gave a guess that it must not have happened more than an hour before he and Cringer had gotten there.  
In a panic now, worried about Teelas safety Adam started calling out for his friend, pulling his communicator up and playing with the channels. None of them went through to Teela's communicator and so he switched to one he knew would respond. "Man-At-Arm! Man-At-Arms, pick up!" He commanded into the tiny device, looking around the area for any more signs of a struggle, anything at all that could give him a clue as to where his friend had gone.  


"Adam, what's wrong? Are you and Teela alright?" Came Duncan's concerned response.  


"No, I haven't been able to find Teela and there's a smashed Sky-Sled out here with a lot of blood nearby. Her sample bag and water are sitting by a boulder but Cringer and I can't find any other trace of her!" Adam, who was still looking frantically around stopped to watch the sky as a Griffon carrying a large crate flew by in the far off distance. "What if Skeletor has her?" Cringer whined again.  


"Adam, there's no point in panicking." Came Duncan's voice through the tiny speaker. "I need you to calm down and take a sample of the blood for me." Adam looked at his communicator. "I need you to run the sample so we can see just who it is that's bleeding. If it's Teela we'll need to take her back to the Sorceress for another transfusion."  


"What do I run it with? I only have the equipment to run rock samples." Time felt like it was slipping the more they talked. Reality seeming to drain away and leave a warped panic in its place. It had been a long time since Adam had felt like this. He was beginning to get the urge to transform into He-Man and storm Snake Mountain to interrogate its inhabitants.  


"You're right, that won't do." Duncan was trying his best to stay calm himself. "Take a sample and head on back. If something has happened to Teela we'll need the other Master's aid to plan a rescue. Even if it turns out to not be Teelas we'll still want their help to search the area. The more able bodies and eyes the better."  


Cringer continued to pace, sniffing the ground and whining. He was unsure which way Teela had gone, her scent had been masked by the dirt and blood. He knew for certain the blood wasn't Teelas but he had no way of telling Adam this, instead, he whined again and circled Adam, pushing him back towards the Light Hemispheres side of the wall. He knew what the young Prince was foolishly thinking of doing.  


"That will take time though, time Teela might not even have!" Adam retorted, frustration starting to pour out.  


"It's all we can do at the moment. I'll alert the others and have them assembled in my lab for when you get back." This still didn't satisfy the young man.  


"I can have He-Man begin to search-" Duncan cut him off.  


"Adam, I know you're worried about her, I am too. That's my daughter who's missing, but we need to keep our heads. Without any real idea of what's happened, we could end up searching in the wrong direction or come up with something that we're not prepared for, be it a trap laid out or worst case scenario." Duncan understood how helpless and frustrated Adam must feel at this moment, standing there with nothing to do but turn back home, but it was senseless to turn into He-Man and rough up others with no real indication that they were even involved.  


Duncan scorned himself, he should never have left Teela alone at the Mystic Wall, it was too dangerous. Teela had insisted she would be fine collecting samples until they got back and with her bright smile and confident attitude he had caved. If he had just held his ground against the teen this wouldn't have happened.  


"Man-At-Arms, I'm sorry." Adam felt like a fool. Of course, Duncan would be more worried about Teela than he was letting on. She's his daughter, but he's also the Captain of the Royal Guard, there was no room for him to lose his head. "I'm on my way back with the sample." He cut communications, fists clenched, and walked over to Teelas bag of samples. Pulling out a clean soil sampler he then went back to the puddle of blood and scraped a decent size sample up.  


"Cringer, we're taking this to the Palace. We'll find out whose blood it is and then go from there." Cringer looked at the little sample vial a moment before trotting over to the Sky-Sled.  


Adam picked up the sample bag and water flask next as he walked back to the Sled. The increased threat from the Dark Hemisphere had been exactly why they were collecting samples. It was supposed to be a simple three-step process, of course, simple only applied when talked about. With the lack of activity, they were experiencing from Skeletor and his crew they had decided to start their process, knowing something big must be in the planning process.  


King Randor and Man-At-Arms had come up with a plan to confiscate all magical items from all around Eternia and store them in a secret safety facility far away from the use of evil. Next, they were going to push back all known villains to the Dark Hemisphere and then finally put the new and improved Mystic Wall up, leaving Skeletor and his lot to rot along with all the other evil-doers. Adam just hoped Teela wasn't going to be the price to pay to make Eternia safe once again.

*

"How can something so small be so frustrating?" Buzz-Off clenched his fists as he walked with Stratos, mandibles, and teeth grinding as he dusted himself off.  


A group of the Masters had just returned to the Palace from chasing off the last of King Hiss' men from the Eternos villas. He-Man had fought most of them off, including King Hiss himself. The Snake King was getting bold in his conquest of Eternia and had chosen to target areas closer to the Palace as often as he could causing the Defenders to constantly be on alert. This activity meant one of two things: either Hiss was just that ignorant of his follower's abilities, or it was a distraction tactic while he worked secretly at something else. Either way, he had become a local pest and had all the warriors on edge for the last two weeks.  


It didn't help matters either when you have Orko being just as large a distraction all on his own. He had managed to run Buzz-Off off his flight course twice today alone before they had even left for battle and upon their return crashed into him, knocking the two of them into the garden along with a couple statues. Elders know what else the Jester had accomplished to the rest of the Palace while the warriors had been out. They all know that Orko always means the best for others though it was very rare that what he was attempting to achieve ever turned out to be the benefit he hoped for.  


Stratos chuckled at Buzz-Offs temper before giving an apologetic smile. "He doesn't mean anything by it, he just wants to help like the rest of us." The Avion offered in defense of the little Trollan.  


"Yea, well he should stop before he hurts someone. That's all I'm saying. He doesn't have full control of his magic and I don't understand how many times we're going to have to clean up after him before something is done about it." Buzz-Off stopped walking as he caught sight of Ram-Man running towards them, waving an arm in the air to catch their attention.  


"We've had that conversation with him before." Stratos reminded Buzz-Off. "He almost left to go back to Trolla last time because our words and actions made him feel like he didn't belong. It was lucky that even to the Sorceress it wasn't a simple spell to send him back to Trolla, otherwise, Orko might not have been there when Skeletor attacked Grayskull. Orko ended up becoming the key component to Skeletors defeat that day." Stratos looked from Buzz-Off to Ram-Man who stood bent over and panting in front of them. "Ram-Man, what is it, has something happened?"  


"Man-At-Arms wants us all at the lab. Prince Adam found a large pool of blood by the ruins of the Mystic Wall and Teela's gone missin'. He's bringin' a sample of the stuff back right now." The giant warrior huffed out before turning to go back in the direction he had just come from. "Come on!" He shouted over his shoulder, arm waving them forward. Buzz-Off and Stratos looked at each other uneasily before following suit.  


Man-At-Arms stood with his back to the lab's open doorway, deep in thought. He had his mouth and chin pressed against his fist while he stared intensely at his lab equipment. Roboto stood in silence just off to the side, watching his comrade while they waited for the others. He wasn't entirely sure if Man-At-Arms even saw the objects he was looking at or if they were just unfocused color to the man. It wasn't long until all three other Masters ran into the lab and began asking questions, only Roboto noticing and turning to listen to their distressed questioning. Too deep in thought Duncan unknowingly ignored the presence of the others, their noise a static as he continued to think of a plan. The night was falling and the Dark 

Hemisphere was always more dangerous to traverse in the dark, even for seasoned warriors like himself.  


"Duncan, what happened?" Stratos asked again, standing now at the Captains side, hand on his shoulder and looking at his friend, worry etched on his face.  


"We don't know yet." He finally responded, shaking his head lightly to bring himself back to full consciousness. "Adam said there was a crashed Sky-Sled and not too far from it an alarming amount of blood. None of it sounds good..." All four fellow Defenders gave quick glances to each other before looking at Man-At-Arms, a concern clearly shared among them.  


"There's no trace of her anywhere?" Buzz-Off questioned. "No struggle or-"  


"No. No struggle, not that Adam could see, though Adam hasn't yet been trained to pick out things like that. He and Cringer had found her sample bag and water flask sitting beside one of the boulders, but no other trace." Duncan scratched the back of his neck as he turned around. "But, again, Adam and Cringer both are no skilled trackers so it's possible there's a trail."  


"Logic indicates that the Sled would belong to one of Skeletor's men. Two-Bad's heads don't get along so he could most likely have gotten into an argument with himself and lost control." Noticing how this didn't ease any of the others Roboto added, "Teela could have heard or seen them coming and decided to run to safety elsewhere before a possibility of hostile confrontation could arise."  


"But where would she run to, and why hasn't she communicated with anyone?" Buzz-Off continued. He didn't want to be the only one thinking negatively, but all angles had to be considered. He and Ram-Man glared at each other for a moment.  


Duncan shook his head. "I've tried her communicator a few times now. At first, I thought it was just the magic residue from the Wall interfering with the signal, but now I fear it might be something different altogether." Duncan looked at the others with a serious expression. He was doing well, hiding how truly concerned he was for Teela, but he knew his mask wouldn't hold much longer if they kept theorizing the possibilities. This isn't what he had brought them all together for.  


Just then Adam burst through the door, sample bag swung over one shoulder and the vial of blood in the other, outstretched in his grasp ahead of himself. The group turned to look at him as he stumbled towards Man-At-Arms, Cringer now entering the room as well. “Here, here it is.” He breathed out, holding his arm with the sample vial of blood towards the Captain as he bent over panting. “Any word?” He gasped dropping the bag to the floor.  


“No, nothing yet,” Duncan responded taking the blood sample and holding up in front of the light to examine before pouring the blood out into one of his machines. Begining the filtration of blood and soil he turned back to Adam. “There was no sign, anywhere?” He sounded solemn as the machine behind him whirred and clicked. Adam looked up and shook his head.  


“I did a scan before heading back here but nothing came up. The only signatures were mine and Cringers.” The Prince stood up and leaned against a counter, one hand on Cringers head which nuzzled against his thigh. “Cringer couldn’t smell her, all he did was growl at the pool of blood, so there’s a good chance it’s not even hers.”  


“Cringer would never growl at Teela.” Ram-Man agreed. “So I’ll bet it’s not even hers.”  


“That still doesn’t change the fact that she’s missing and in her place, we have a crashed Sky-Sled,” Buzz-Off interjected.  


Stratos looked at Buzz-Off disapprovingly. “Yes, there is the Sky-Sled. We should take a look at it and see if we can discover what had happened. Perhaps if we can determine how it crashed we can get a better idea of how far its piolet has gotten. They might have seen her in their decent.”  


Roboto watched the group for a moment. “If it was not one of Skeletor's people, perhaps Teela offered her aid to the wounded?” Adam shook his head as he stared at the floor.  


“No, that doesn’t account for her com not working." Adam stared at the floor in thought. "And why wouldn’t she have called in the crash in the first place?” He narrowed his brows in frustration.  


“Then we go and do what Stratos suggested. We see what we can find at the site.” Ram-Man was anxious, wanting to move this along as fast as possible. Teela was one of his friends and not knowing what might have happened to her was already starting to eat at him.  


The machine buzzed and reopened. Duncan pulled the purified blood out and walked to another machine. He had remained quiet the entire time, listening to all the ideas and speculations the others were tossing around. He wanted to join in making the plan too but he needed to know whose blood this was first. Placing the purified blood into his DNA analyzer Duncan began the new process. This one wouldn’t take as long which turned out to be a good thing because the other Masters were now starting to argue.  


The machine chimed and everyone stopped, voices falling silent. Watching and listening carefully the group stood in anticipation as Duncan looked at the results, Giving a heavy sigh of relief. “It’s not hers.” The others copied the Captains actions, body language relaxing a moment before their next set of questions bubbled up.  


“So, with the blood not being Teelas that’s both good news and bad,” Duncan stated, looking around at his team, his friends. “I’ll run another analysis and see if I can figure out whose blood this does belong to, but having most likely come from someone in the Dark Hemisphere there’s little chance it will be in our system.” Hand to his chin again Duncan pondered the outcome.  


Adam was the first to jump in. “If it’s not hers then we need to go back and start looking. Stratos, you have the best eyesight here, maybe you can find some sort of trail, footprints?”  


Roboto looked at Adam and added, “And my scanners are more advanced than your hand-held ones. I should be able to pick up any signs, friend or foe, long before they are upon us leaving almost no chance for an ambush. Perhaps I can even recreate the scene as it unfolded.” With agreeable shrugs, the others nodded.  


“So it’s a plan then. Stratos and Buzz-Off will work together to find any trail that may lead to Teela or even the injured person and report back before following it any further. Roboto and Ram-Man will search the crash area for any other clues while I examine the Sky-Sled, I'll need any extra debris you can gather.” Duncan turned to look at the DNA machine once more. It was still searching for matches. “It doesn’t look like this will tell us anything soon so we should prepare ourselves for anything and anyone.”  


“Hey, what about me and Cringer?” Adam pushed. He was purposely being left out and he knew it. Man-At-Arms always did this when he didn’t think the Prince could handle the situation, rather having He-Man there instead. Teela was Adams friend first and he wanted to be the one, as is, to help find her.  


Duncan and the others looked Adam over cautiously. Only Man-At-Arms knew the real reason the Prince was never present on the battlefield, but to the others, Adam wasn’t the most useful of the group and even less reliable when it came to any sort of work. Of course they would never openly say what they were thinking. Honesty was the best policy among the Masters and they believed there wasn’t much they couldn’t talk openly about, but when it came to the Prince there was a slight hesitation. Though even King Randor himself would often acknowledge his sons less than heroic attitude it was not their place to add to his words. Still, it was hard to hold back their expressions and body language as they thought about all the ways having the Prince's help could turn disastrous.  


“Adam, if this is a trap or-” Cut off Duncan widened his eyes as the Prince stepped forward.  


“No, don’t ‘what if it’s a trap’ or ‘it’s too dangerous’ me. Teela is my friend too and I’m just as worried as the rest of you so I’m not going to just sit here while she is in need of our help. I am a Defender, Master of the Universe too, you know.” His fists were clenched and his eyes narrowed; a dare offered for anyone to argue. Adam knew if he wanted he could just command them as their Prince to let him go with, but there was no doubt Duncan would then turn and inform his Father who would overrule the whole thing. It was safer, and more respectful, to argue his case with his friends as a friend instead of as their Prince.  


With a heavy sigh of defeat, Duncan nodded. The others, still unsure of Adam joining their rescue party, remained quiet. “Alright, you can come, but you stay with me at all times, got that? You can help me collect the scattered parts of the Sled and determine what caused it to crash.” His offering wasn’t what the Prince wanted to hear, but at least it gave him the opportunity to head back out of the Palace yard and help search for Teela. Adam nodded and leaned back against the counter, arms crossed over his chest once more.  


“Alright everyone," Man-At-Arms began. Unfortunately, it’s getting too dark to head out now, which means it would be too dangerous, so we’ll leave at first light tomorrow.” Ram-Man and Adam were the two who looked the most irritated at the news, but everyone agreed of the dangers. As a group, they would be noticed in no time and waste their strength that should be used to find Teela. Teela herself was just one person but she was also smart, she would use that individuality to find a secluded place for shelter where no one else could get into.  


With heavy hearts, the group departed the lab and then divided to go complete their own nightly routines. They would need to be well rested for the morning, eyes and ears would need to be sharp should anything happen. Though everyone was now stressed they each knew staying up all night wasn't going to be beneficial for their mission tomorrow.  


As everyone departed ways, Stratos stayed behind a while to talk with Duncan, wanting to help make sure they would be ready in the morning for their travels but also he wanted to make sure his friend would be alright. Duncan appreciated Stratos’ gesture and did his best to be open about how he was handling the situation. They sat and talked for a little while as the rest left the room.  


Roboto bid his comrades a good-night and wandered off down the hall to his own room. Laying on his table-bed he plugged into the charging unit before powering down. With no idea what tomorrow would bring he wanted to make sure he would not be a liability on the field. Setting his power-up alarm he shut off his optic sensory and fell into recharge.  


Buzz-Off flew up the Palace walls towards the window of the quarters which had been given to him for nights he needed or even just wanted to stay. Though not anything like his home he was grateful to have a place to rest. Stretching his wings and setting an alarm the Andreenid got himself comfortable, drifting off into a deep sleep.  


Ram-Man and Adam stood for a moment in the quart yards looking up towards the stars. Neither of them was tired so they stood there, feeling helpless.  


“Do you think she’s alright?” Ram-Man asked, expression hardening as he continued to stare up. His confidence had waned and without reassurance, he felt like he would end up doing something stupid. He knew Adam didn’t have a definite answer, but the Prince grew up with Teela. Aside from Man-At-Arms, Adam knew Teela best out of all the Masters, so having his confidence, even if it was feigned, would help.  


“Yea, I'll bet that if she has been captured she’s giving whoever they are a load of trouble. She’s probably on her way back here right now even.” Adam chuckled with a wide grin and looked at Ram-Man. He knew why the giant had asked him such a question and so he smiled empathetically at his friend. It was his duty as Prince, and more importantly as a friend to comfort those around him.  


Ram-Man smiled back down at the teen with a nod. Now feeling a little more at ease about everything he turned and then bid his farewells for the night, departing to his own quarters in order to catch some rest. He wanted nothing more than to be ready for anything and for them to succeed in bringing Teela home safe and sound.  


With Cringer sitting at his side Adam watched until Ram-Man had disappeared into the Palace and out of sight. Smile now replaced with a serious expression the blond shifted his gaze around, finding all the places the guards were stationed and trying to decide the best way out. Cringer, looking up at his person pleaded with whines and whimpers to which the Prince, who was now sneaking over to the Palace walls, ignored. Adam was dead set on escaping and finding Teela on his own. He wasn't willing to waste any more time.  


There were guards at every entry point to the Palace and walking the tops of the walls, which was too tall to scale anyway. Adam stood for a moment in thought before retreating back into the seclusion of the Palace gardens. He didn't need He-Man to do the searching and rescuing, but if he was going to have any chance to leave the Palace and make his way into the forests without arising suspicion, surely gaining Man-At-Arms attention, he would need his disguise as He-Man for now.  


Finding a spot out of sight from any windows or guards posts Adam lifted his Power Sword into the air and spoke the transformation incantation. "By the power of Greyskull," Cringer whined again, pulling back and shrinking to the ground as he watched Adam begin to transform from his small teenage self into the large muscular man. "I have the Power!" He pointed his sword at Cringer who then began to transform into Battle Cat, a mane growing around his neck and armored mask taking place along with a saddle.  


Once their transformations were complete, Adam now as He-Man, walked back towards the front entrance gate which leads directly to the path through the forest. Battle Cat, less fearful than when he was Cringer, snarled at his companion for his foolish actions but followed nonetheless. He-Man smiled at his friend's behavior and continued on his way to the gate. The guards upon seeing He-Man walking their way made friendly gestures of greeting before they began to pull the gates open. They shouted their wishes for his safety as he straddled Battle Cat and exited the gate.  


He-Man waved his thanks to the guards before he and Battle Cat took off into the dark forest at a sprint. It would take no time at all to get to the remains of the Mystic Wall while riding Battle Cat. It wasn't as fast as using a Sky-Sled, but they were able to make it out of the Palace. Once at the Wall He-Man would terminate their transformation and begin his search for Teela once again as Prince Adam and his tiger, Cringer.  


They raced through the trees, passing many dangerous creatures and plants along the way. Battle Cat showed his annoyance with each attempt at them by growling and snarling, bounding again at a faster pace to outrun whatever it was that had decided to chase after their presence in the forest. He was ready to bit off anything that grew too near, his strong jaws snapping at anything that grew to close to his face.  


"Faster Battle Cat, we need to reach the crash site before anyone else find it. They could end up contamination the scene and we'll lose our chance to find where Teela went." He-Man spoke to his feline companion, patting the side of his neck. Battle Cat sped up his pace, his breathing turning into pants as he charged at full speed towards the ruins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yea. This happened. I uploaded a chapter before a two-year hiatus! What?  
> Anyways, this chapter might be updated eventually. I'm not terribly excited about how it turned out. I'll most likely add extra to the end of this chapter.  
> Let me know what you thought! I'd like to make sure the characters are decently canon in their personalities.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic I have felt was decent enough to share with the world and continue. I've had a thing for MOTU since I was 11 years old (over a decade now) and it still inspires stories to run in my head. This particular fiction was created out of a dream I had one night, then upon seeing a fanart the next morning an online friend had drawn that resembled my dream in a near spot on freaky way I had to do something about it. There is the link in the top notes to their artwork which this story will start to move towards.  
> 


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